Eleven-Year-Old Icelandic Lord

An 11-year-old boy in Reykjavík, Arnaldur Kjárr Arnþórsson, recently bought a piece of land in Scotland. “I bought the land just for the title,” he admits to Morgunblaðið reporter Orri Páll Ormarsson. “Now, I have the right to ask people to call me ‘Lord’ — Lord Arnaldur Kjárr.”

He relates how the idea was sparked: “I was watching YouTube and saw some rag dolls that called themselves lords, because they owned land in Scotland. Right away, I found this very interesting, and it made me, too, want to buy land there. I started googling and found a great Valentine’s Day deal with an 80 percent discount. It was too good to miss.”

When asked how big the land is, he responds, “Five square feet,” and the price he paid was USD 40.

Arnaldur notified his parents of his plan by sending his father a text message, “I’m going to buy land in Scotland!” “Can you afford it?” they replied. “Yes, we’ll make it happen!” he answered.

Arnaldur shows the journalist the location of the piece of land, near Ardallie. His mother is not too sure her son has authority over this piece of land. She expresses her doubts by remarking, “I’m not sure what would happen if we showed up there. Wouldn’t just some Scottish farmer chase us away.”

When Arnaldur confesses his goal was just to get the title, the journalists asks his mother, “Do you have any choice but to address him ‘Lord’?” She admits she has no choice.

Arnaldur admits, though, that being a lord in Iceland is of little significance. “It’s mostly fun,” he admits. “Most of my friends still call me Arnaldur.”

He believes that living in Scotland for a short while could be interesting, giving him a chance to tell people he is a lord. “Iceland, though, will always be my place, unless I find a way to visit Valhalla — without being dead.” Arnaldur is very interested in Norse mythology and joined Ásatrúarfélagið — the Icelandic religious organization that promotes belief in the old Nordic gods (Æsir) — at the age of ten.