Tag Archives: media
Getting understood in Iceland, part 2. Posted by hulda on Jan 16, 2013
“It didn’t sound anything like Icelandic.” “What didn’t?” “Well, for example Thorin’s name isn’t really pronounced like that.” Roughly a week ago we went to see Hobbit, or There and Back Again and the discussion above happened right after the movie was over. We agreed that the movie itself was awesome, but the Icelandic viewers…
Gleðilegt nýtt ár! Happy New Year! Posted by hulda on Dec 31, 2012
New Year is called áramót, or nýár, in Icelandic. Whereas the latter needs no specific translation the former is rather poetic and means “years meeting” or “the meeting of the years”. New Year’s Eve is gamlárskvöld, “old year’s evening”, and New Year’s day nýársdagur, “day of the new year”. New Year’s celebrations in Iceland are…
Gleðileg jól! Posted by hulda on Dec 24, 2012
It’s the 24th and I’m glad to say we’re all still alive. Some door slamming activity has been noted and I’ve had to make piparkökur, gingerbread twice because they keep randomly disappearing, but other than that we may have managed to avoid luring in any of the local “Santas“. Let’s celebrate this by reading more…
Norwegian Wood – a Christmas Tree from Oslo. Posted by hulda on Dec 4, 2012
Even though I’ve been totally caught in the busy busy busy time of exam weeks I decided to take a small break from university assignments last Sunday and head downtown to Austurvellir where the Óslóartré’s Christmas lights were lit. Óslóartré means what it sounds like, it’s a Christmas tree that is sent from Oslo, Norway…
How to order coffee in Icelandic Posted by hulda on Nov 24, 2012
Icelanders are among the leading nations in the world when it comes to coffee consumption per capita. This means that no matter how small they are, every single town has at least three cafes, and that in Reykjavík there are so many of them that it’s hard to choose among them. Some serve a wide…
Drop it like it’s Ð, G, H, Þ or a vowel. Posted by hulda on Sep 30, 2012
The most confusing part of Icelandic may not actually be the grammar – although difficult – nor the spelling – it will eventually make sense – but the way Icelanders pronounce it during everyday conversations. Depending on the speaker the language may be riddled with words borrowed from English, severely mumbled or shortened to unrecognizable…
A landslide, aurora borealis and more! Posted by hulda on Sep 22, 2012
My, what an interesting week it has been for Iceland. After the storm we’ve had earthquakes, the colour of leaves has changed almost overnight and the first aurora of the year was seen over Reykjavík on the 19. September. Topping it off today’s haustjafndægur (= equinox) which means that Ásatrúarfélagið (= Asatru Association) will be…