{"id":3970,"date":"2015-02-11T22:15:54","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T22:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=3970"},"modified":"2015-02-13T10:17:45","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T10:17:45","slug":"how-to-romance-a-viking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2015\/02\/11\/how-to-romance-a-viking\/","title":{"rendered":"How to romance a viking."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"351827018_326ac36741_o\"<\/a>

Keri\u00f0 couple by big-ashb at Flickr.com.<\/p><\/div>\n

You know what day is just around the corner, so let’s get prepared with some relevant vocabulary!<\/p>\n

The important\u00a0days<\/strong><\/p>\n

Valent\u00ednusardagur<\/em> = Valentine’s Day. The tradition caught on in\u00a0Iceland perhaps a little earlier than the rest of the Nordics, but since the country was occupied by the USA since the WW2 it may not be\u00a0too surprising. People do take note of the day and couples sometimes plan something romantic for it, but other than that it does not seem to be such a big deal. Maybe it’s because Iceland already has other, more Icelandic days that have a romantic tone to them, one for men and one for women. These would be:<\/p>\n

B\u00f3ndadagur<\/em> = Farmer’s\/Master’s Day, which dates back to the 1600’s and is still celebrated to this day\u00a0as a\u00a0day when women treat their husbands and boyfriends to something extra nice. It’s usually on the first day of the month \u00deorri<\/em>. There were also other traditions tied to this day, such as the master of the house going outside in the morning wearing nothing but a shirt, putting one leg in trousers but letting the other drag on the ground and so hopping around his house on one foot.<\/p>\n

Konudagur<\/em> = Woman’s Day, dates back to at least the 1800’s, likewise still celebrated every year. This was a day when it was the wife’s turn to be celebrated, and it takes place on the first Sunday of the month G\u00f3a<\/em>. You can read about \u00deorri, G\u00f3a and the rest of the old Nordic calendar here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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On the Sk\u00f3gar-\u00de\u00f3rsm\u00f6rk trail by Richard P J Lambert at Flickr.com.<\/p><\/div>\n

Darling (when describing the darling to a third person)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Icelandic is a funny language in that there are words for the SO that\u00a0would never be used at them, only when talking about them to someone else.<\/p>\n

Eiginma\u00f0ur\/eiginkona<\/em> = Husband\/wife. Often shortened to ma\u00f0ur<\/em> and kona<\/em>, and in these short forms even couples that are only dating may sometimes use them.<\/p>\n

K\u00e6rasti, -nn<\/em> = Darling, loved one, male form. Is usually translated simply as boyfriend.<\/p>\n

K\u00e6rasta, -n<\/em> = Darling, loved one, female form. Typically translated as girlfriend. Both of these words hint that you’re dating but not yet married, although overlap happens a lot and I’ve heard people use these words about their spouses as well on occasion. You\u00a0would not use either of them to address your SO, that’d sound a bit like “oh lover of mine”.<\/p>\n

\u00c1stvinur<\/em> = Lit. transl. “love friend”, means darling\/beloved.<\/p>\n

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Geyser with lovers by Mei Burgin at Flickr.com.<\/p><\/div>\n

Darling,\u00a0when addressing them<\/strong><\/p>\n

S\u00e6ti\/s\u00e6ta<\/em> = <\/strong>Sweetie, cutie. First one’s for the men, the second one’s for the women.<\/p>\n

Elskan, elskan m\u00edn<\/em>, also \u00e1stin\/\u00e1stin m\u00edn<\/em> = My love, my darling. M\u00edn-ending adds some weight to the word, but it can also be used to berate someone and can even sound patronizing. If someone addresses me as Hulda m\u00edn<\/em>\u00a0only the tone of the voice will tell whether or not I’m actually\u00a0in deep trouble…<\/p>\n

By the way, despite the feminine pronoun at the end these can be used for men too. The words elskan and \u00e1stin are feminine, which is why they get the feminine pronoun, but the usage is not only limited to women.<\/p>\n

Kr\u00fatt\/kr\u00fatti\u00f0 mitt<\/em> = Sweetie\/cutie. A rare gender neutral endearment that’s perfectly fine to use for whoever.<\/p>\n

D\u00falla\/d\u00fallan m\u00edn<\/em> = Sweetie\u00a0as\u00a0a possible non-romantic option, girls often refer to their friends like this. You can add some extra oomph to any of these by using “\u00e6” in front of an endearment by the way, thus “\u00c6, d\u00fallan m\u00edn!<\/em>” (= Oh, sweetie!) Elsku is another option: “Elsku d\u00fallan m\u00edn!<\/em>” (= My dear sweetie!)<\/p>\n

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Just Married by Helgi Halld\u00f3rsson at Flickr.com.<\/p><\/div>\n

All you need is love<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c1st<\/em> = love. However, I love you in Icelandic is \u00c9g elska \u00feig<\/em>\u00a0and here lies a danger: never use a noun as a verb, because if you try to say \u00e9g \u00e1st \u00feig<\/em> you’re actually saying “I (you)\u00a0ate\u00a0you”. It makes little sense but sounds a bit more cannibalistic than romantic. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

Pykja v\u00e6nt um<\/em> = To love someone, although it can be used for non-romantic love as well. Important: \u00feykja<\/em> demands a \u00fe\u00e1gufall<\/em> in front and um<\/em> wants a \u00feolfall<\/em> after it, therefore M\u00e9r<\/strong> \u00feykir v\u00e6nt um \u00feig<\/strong><\/em>. (= I love you.)<\/p>\n

A\u00f0 unna<\/em> = To love. Archaic, rarely in use nowadays. Can mean parental, spousal and romantic love (for Icelanders of old these were three different things).<\/p>\n

A\u00f0 elska<\/em> = To love, tends to mean a very deep kind of love, either romantic or parental.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"hulda078\"<\/a>Hulda recommends<\/strong><\/p>\n

Naturally there needs to be some relevant music too, so here’s a few of my all-time favourite Icelandic love songs.<\/p>\n

\u00derek og t\u00e1r<\/em><\/strong>, performed by Erla \u00deorsteinsd\u00f3ttir and Haukur Morthens. Lyrics\u00a0are included in the description field. (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

V\u00edsur Vatnsenda-R\u00f3su<\/em><\/strong>, performed by Bj\u00f6rk. Possibly the most famous love-poem of Iceland. (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

St\u00f3\u00f0um tv\u00f6 \u00ed t\u00fani<\/em><\/strong>, a Medieval love poem that deserves two versions: here<\/a> performed by Sverrir Gu\u00f0j\u00f3nsson and here<\/a> by Ryan Koons – with a langsp\u00edl<\/em> (= an Icelandic zither).<\/p>\n

\u00de\u00fa ert minn s\u00fakkula\u00f0i\u00eds<\/em><\/strong>, by Svanhildur Jakobsd\u00f3ttir. You’re my chocolate ice cream! \ud83d\ude00 (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Allt fyrir \u00e1stina<\/em><\/strong> by none other than P\u00e1ll \u00d3skar himself. (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

You know what day is just around the corner, so let’s get prepared with some relevant vocabulary! The important\u00a0days Valent\u00ednusardagur = Valentine’s Day. The tradition caught on in\u00a0Iceland perhaps a little earlier than the rest of the Nordics, but since the country was occupied by the USA since the WW2 it may not be\u00a0too surprising…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":3982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[90791,91379,91060],"tags":[91405,10208,3,178,7,10341,91391,91392,91396,13],"class_list":["post-3970","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-icelandic-culture","category-icelandic-customs","category-icelandic-history","tag-advanced","tag-beginner","tag-culture","tag-history","tag-holidays","tag-intermediate","tag-living-in-iceland-info","tag-post-full-of-links","tag-so-icelandic","tag-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3970"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3988,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3970\/revisions\/3988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}