Archive for 'Icelandic customs'
6 signs of Icelandic Christmas Posted by hulda on Dec 8, 2016
Icelandic Christmas traditions – I bet you’ve heard of the trolls by now! You might also have heard of the monster cat that devours everyone who doesn’t get at least one new item of clothing for the holidays, that Iceland has 13 “Santas” or more correctly put Yule Lads, mountain trolls that arrive to the…
Starter pack for living in Iceland. Posted by hulda on Nov 24, 2016
Remember the post that I made some months ago where I put together an Icelandic language starter pack? I thought it a fun idea to make another starter pack for those who dream of moving, or perhaps plan already to one day move to Iceland. What is Iceland? Iceland compass explores different areas of Iceland and…
This is Hrekkjavaka Posted by hulda on Oct 13, 2016
It’s almost time, Halloween is here. Though it’s not a traditional celebration in Iceland it has made itself a steady foothold – with some original things excluded and some Icelandic things added on, of course. Time for a quick vocabulary lesson with a look on how Halloween is (and isn’t) celebrated in Iceland! Hrekkjavaka (=…
3 aurora viewing tips. Posted by hulda on Sep 29, 2016
Northern lights can be said to be a stable feature here in Iceland. Every year from late autumn to midwinter is the usual top season, but they’ve been seen as early as August at best and as late as March. The only time of the year they’re not really seen is the part of spring…
Life with volcanoes Posted by hulda on Sep 22, 2016
When people think of living with volcanoes they usually think only of a situation where one erupts, but life on this island is heavily marked by the presence of geothermal energy every day. Iceland is situated exactly between Europe and North America so that it actually sits on both continental plates at the same time…
Jæja. Posted by hulda on Sep 15, 2016
There’s an Icelandic word that can be used to react to almost any situation: jæja. It can probably best be translated as “really now” or “well then”, just a declaration of whatever emotion you’re currently feeling that you can’t or don’t want to put in exact words. The recipient will immediately know what you’re thinking about…
Nananananananana LEÐURBLÖKUMAÐURINN Posted by hulda on Sep 8, 2016
One of my favourite things about Icelandic is that there’s usually an Icelandic word for anything and everything. Icelandic did at one time steal and borrow from other languages just like almost every other language in the world does, most notably Danish and then later on English, but today extra effort is put to keeping…