A sheep by any other name… Posted by hulda on Oct 8, 2013
Afi á Á á á á á is a perfect example of the dangers of speaking Icelandic; it has a good selection of both homophones and homonyms. Homophones, words that are written differently but pronounced almost or exactly the same will become a challenge when you speak, homonyms such as á that are spelled and…
Nature in poetry. Posted by hulda on Sep 26, 2013
I’ve come to believe that Icelandic people’s relationship with Icelandic nature is of the strongest kind there is. Logically thinking this is not surprising: just look around to see what I mean. On particularly beautiful mornings I still find it hard to believe that Esjan, the mountain looking over Reykjavík in the north, is real…
The Gusher and the Churn. Posted by hulda on Sep 23, 2013
Let’s take one last look at summer – I forgot one important part of our south Iceland camping trip! Situated in the area known also as Golden Circle is the hot spring site that includes f.ex. Geysir (= gusher), the geyser that gave its name to all geysers in the world. Another, nowadays more interesting…
The helpful helping verbs. Posted by hulda on Sep 19, 2013
Auxiliary verbs – they’re both an Icelandic language student’s best friend and worst friend*, and therefore this grammar post will be marked with all the difficulty levels from beginner to advanced. The basics are easy to learn and will come in handy when you speak because that means you won’t have to suddenly be able…
Feeling under the weather? Posted by hulda on Sep 15, 2013
A certain sign of autumn has now arrived to Iceland: the storms. It’s good to remember that Icelanders call some kinds of storms drizzle, a bit breezy etc., so always be prepared to almost get your window blown in if the weather forecast states there’ll be light rain and some wind. Rubber boots and a…
A house called The House. Posted by hulda on Aug 31, 2013
The House of Eyrarbakki, Húsið á Eyrarbakka, was among our must-stop list during the camping trip. I’ve already described how Icelanders typically lived (link), but this example is exceptional because the house in question used to belong to a very wealthy family. Of course it pales in comparison to many, larger and fancier houses all…
Menningarnótt, it’s a town-sized party! Posted by hulda on Aug 28, 2013
A little bit of rain does not keep an Icelander from partying downtown whenever the occasion arises. It drizzled lightly the whole day of Menningarnótt (= culture night) and possibly into the evening as well, but Reykjavík downtown was as packed as it could be. No wonder, since Menningarnótt is much awaited for each summer…