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Tag Archives: so icelandic

The trolls. Posted by on Jul 16, 2012

Perhaps the most variable of all supernatural creatures of Iceland is tröll, a troll. Stories of them describe their size alone ranging from the size of a mountain to something resembling a very large human. Their behaviour varies likewise from friendly and loyal to solitary, hermit-like sages to beastly and violent man eaters. Sometimes trolls…

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Falling Fall and Mountain Moo. Posted by on Jul 13, 2012

Despite that it’s föstudagurinn þrettándi (= the Friday 13th) I hope you’re all doing well! One of the quickest and the most effective ways of widening your vocabulary in any foreign language is to pick up a map and begin to translate the names of places. It’s not only easy – the repetition of certain…

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A hot dog for Mr. Clinton. Posted by on Jul 9, 2012

Today I put together a short grammar lesson with some easy rules on the use of hjá, við and með,  three prepositions that can all be translated as “with”. The difficulty lies in the different nuances and usage of all three, and getting them mixed up will hardly ever work in a grammatical sense. And…

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1 a.m. in Reykjavík. Posted by on Jul 2, 2012

It happened last weekend. I was sitting at my computer by the window, minding my own business, and therefore didn’t notice anything out of ordinary until I looked up for one reason or another and saw that the clock on the wall above me thought it was well past midnight. I knew of the miðnætursól…

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Beware the sheep. Posted by on Jun 27, 2012

For those who only see Reykjavík during their stay in Iceland they probably only show up on a menu on every restaurant you go to, but once outside the city they’ll become a regular feature. On hills, mountains, meadows, they’re everywhere. Even in places where you’d think no animal or even human could venture unless…

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Is this person a drusla, a slut? Posted by on Jun 24, 2012

You may be wondering why on earth am I so keen on teaching you rude words of Icelandic today with such a provocative image attached, but I have an excuse, I swear! The annual Drusluganga (SlutWalk) parade crowded up the downtown area yesterday and by a lucky accident I happened to walk right into it. The answer…

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Is your neighbour an elf? Posted by on Jun 22, 2012

Happy Midsummer/Solstice everyone! Unlike many European countries, this time of the year is not celebrated very much in Iceland, at least in comparison. There’s Þórláksmessa (the summer version of it – one is held on 20th June and another on 23rd December) held in the memory of Þórlák hinn helga Þórláksson, the patron saint of…

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