Icelanders are stubborn, independent and extremely proud of their history, whitch is fine, Iceland's curency reflects these things being both colorful, and full of history. The bills have pictures of historically famous or important people, while the coins have carvings of various types of fish (reflicting Iceland's biggest industry). Still, you probably haven't got a clue who these people are, or what type of fish are on the coins, and if you simply don't care, don't read and further than this.
The purple 1000 króna note is a little bit wider then the red 500 krona note, the difference is so little (5mm) that it is hard to notice. On the front is a picture of Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson (1605-1675), who served 30 years as a Bishop at Skalholt and, among other things, rebuilt the cathedral there. More famous in later times was his daughter Ragnheidur, her short, difficult life, and her death driven by grief has been an inspiration for many Icelandic songwriters and poets, among them Megas. Rangheidur had a secret lover and her father made her swear to give her virginity to the church in front of a large crowd of priests and other church related people, but ironically, 9 months later she bore a child. Megas suggested in one of his songs that Brynjolfur himself was the father. On the back, among other less important things, is a picture of the aforementioned cathedral.
What's it worth?
A decent lunch in one of Reykjavik's bistros is not much more than a 1000 Kronas, the purple note would also easily cover the infamous price of a beer at the same bistro or buy you a six-pack in a liquor store.