Tag Archives: pronunciation
Smoky vikings of Smoky Bay. Posted by hulda on Jul 31, 2014
As I was browsing through my notes about hljóðbreyting (= metathesis) for another entry that I currently have in the works I found something interesting that I thought might amuse you while not being quite as heavy as learning the theory of different sound changes. I understand many of you, dear readers, have recently suffered…
Icelandic horses for courses and… courses. Posted by hulda on Jul 17, 2014
Question and answer time! During the last month you’ve asked the Icelandic blog, via both the e-mail and the comments section, a couple of interesting questions that I’ll try to answer today. First a question was about horses: what are all the different words that mean horse in Icelandic? The most obvious one is hestur of…
Reykjavík calling: we’re on fire (again). Posted by hulda on Jul 11, 2014
Hi all, it’s been quite an insanely busy and action-packed week, not to mention a small injury in the family has momentarily made a nurse out of me (although hopefully if you ever need a nurse it will be someone with better handling skills). We’re doing fine at the moment despite all my best efforts at…
A Love Letter to the Icelandic disregard of time. Posted by hulda on Jun 24, 2014
Dear Iceland, When I first moved here four years ago I almost didn’t have a culture shock. Iceland and Finland seemed so similar, though one had trees and lakes and the other one mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls and glaciers, I very nearly felt at home right away. Except. Whenever I arranged to meet with my local…
Nightless nights, dayless days. Posted by hulda on May 26, 2014
Like A hundred names for snow might show, Icelandic has quite a rich vocabulary when it comes to nature and the seasons. An obvious example besides snow is light and darkness and the change from one to other, because the time during which day and night are about the same length is very, extremely short. Due…
Apples in the oak tree. Posted by hulda on Apr 24, 2014
Happy Sumardagurinn fyrsti, First of Summer, everyone! Easter is almost over now, the lamb’s eaten, Easter beer gone, the chocolate eggs opened and now the only thing left to do is to try to understand the proverbs that the eggs gave you. One of you, dear readers, asked me about a particularly difficult proverb which prompted me…
Staving off a disaster; magical tattoos. Posted by hulda on Apr 16, 2014
I’ve noticed a growing trend of people having Icelandic magical staves tattooed on them lately. Some of the choices, alas, range from weird to unintentionally funny and inappropriate. On its own having such a stave tattooed is not a bad thing at all. Icelanders themselves often get them as tattoos and it’s not considered insulting…