{"id":5048,"date":"2016-06-30T21:40:59","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T21:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=5048"},"modified":"2016-06-30T21:40:59","modified_gmt":"2016-06-30T21:40:59","slug":"vikings-attacked-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2016\/06\/30\/vikings-attacked-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings attacked England."},"content":{"rendered":"

Iceland has certainly made an impression in the world of football in the past few weeks and especially with the game against England this Monday. To set the mood for Sunday’s game against France I’m going to introduce you to some Icelandic football facts and vocabulary, so here we go!<\/p>\n

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Eiffel Tower soccer ball by Bogdan Lungu at Flickr.<\/p><\/div>\n

F\u00f3tbolti (M) vs. knattspyrna (F)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both of the above words mean football in Icelandic. The only difference is that knattspyrna<\/em> is “the real” Icelandic word for football whereas f\u00f3tbolti<\/em> is a loan word, but both are often used simultaneously to f.ex. avoid repetition. Knattspyrna literally translates as “ball kicking”.<\/p>\n

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FH-KR 2-1 by Dagur Brynj\u00f3lfsson at Flickr.<\/p><\/div>\n

Gummi Ben<\/strong><\/p>\n

The now legendary Icelandic announcer that goes falsetto out of excitement and tends to lose his voice at least once per game, Gu\u00f0mundur Benediktsson or just Gummi Ben is quickly approaching the level of national treasure. My favourite is\u00a0his unashamed love for Ragnar Sigur\u00f0sson – Raggi gets a new nickname such as “sugarlump” (= sykurmoli<\/em>) or “king Raggi” every time he as much as runs toward the ball. But of course that’s not all:<\/p>\n

“Ef gu\u00f0 er \u00edslendingur \u00fe\u00e1 ver\u00f0ur ekki skora\u00f0 meira \u00ed \u00feessum leik.”<\/em><\/p>\n

(Lit. transl.: \u00a0If \u00a0 God \u00a0 is \u00a0 Icelandic \u00a0 then \u00a0 become \u00a0 no \u00a0 scoring \u00a0 more \u00a0 in \u00a0 this \u00a0 game)<\/p>\n

= If God’s Icelandic there will be no more goals in this game.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201eHann (Birkir Bjarni) b\u00fdr bara til hagna\u00f0… eins og banka\u00admenn\u00adirn\u00adir \u00ed gamla daga!\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

(Lit. transl.: \u00a0 He \u00a0 creates \u00a0 just \u00a0 profit… \u00a0 like \u00a0 bankers \u00a0 in \u00a0 old \u00a0 days)<\/p>\n

= He just creates profit like bankers in days of old. (Icelanders don’t trust bankers all that much these days.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201e\u00deETTA ER B\u00daI\u00d0, \u00deETTA ER B\u00daI\u00d0! VI\u00d0 ERUM KOMN\u00adIR TIL PAR\u00cdSAR! VI\u00d0 ERUM ALDREI A\u00d0 FARA HEIM!\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

(Lit. transl.: That \u00a0 is \u00a0 done, \u00a0 that \u00a0 is \u00a0 done! \u00a0 \u00a0We \u00a0 are \u00a0 come \u00a0 to \u00a0 Paris! \u00a0 \u00a0We \u00a0 are \u00a0 never \u00a0 to \u00a0 go \u00a0 home!)<\/p>\n

= It’s done, it’s done! We’re going to Paris! We’re never going home!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you somehow have managed to miss our Gummi Ben going crazy here<\/a>‘s a great moment from the England-Iceland game. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

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Juggler by woodleywonderworks at Flickr.<\/p><\/div>\n

Stu\u00f0ningsmenn<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fans, or better translated as the supporters of the team. Iceland has an amazing percentage of its people currently watching the games in France and the whole gang in their blue shirts have already gained nicknames such as Bl\u00e1i herinn<\/em> (= the blue army) and Bl\u00e1a hafi\u00f0<\/em> (= the blue sea). Their fighting spirit is inspiring and they just don’t seem to ever lost hope, not even once. The English fans standing morose with their arms folded were a stark contrast when the game was nearing its end, and their massive disappointment over losing to “*BLEEP*ing\u00a0Iceland” has been received with both amusement and surprise (link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

From the Icelandic side things look a little different, especially since football has never before been such a big thing for this tiny island and many people have been introduced to it\u00a0via this year’s EM games. So as one elderly lady remarked to me the day after the game, “England played well, they have no reason to feel ashamed” (for full effect, she was being absolutely sincere).<\/p>\n

More fan facts:<\/p>\n