Tourist’s guide to some Icelandic words
Like almost every other tourist we struggled with remembering and pronouncing Icelandic names. This is how we referred to places: “Kirk-ju…something something…you know that place in the south…with this… and that…”. It was clearly getting inefficient and embarrassing. So we tried our best to learn at least how to pronounce the most common places.
Many Icelandic place names are actually an amalgamation of a few common nouns. These common nouns might be appended to a proper noun, but not always. For example, Eyjafjallajökull, the infamous volcano that erupted in 2010 can actually be broken down to island-mountain-glacier. So it helps to break these long words into smaller nouns. Knowing the meaning of some of these words helped us remember and pronounce them. So here is a quick guide. This cannot be perfect, because for it to be, it would have to be written by an Icelander with some knowledge of orthography. But we attempt.
First, let us deal with some common special characters and letters so that they are less intimidating.
| Letters and special characters |
Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Æ | Like in bye or eye | Snæfellsness is pronounced Snye-fers-ness. |
| Ei or ey | Like in laid or paid | Leirhnjúkur is pronounced lay-dsh-nu-kur. |
| J | y | Bæjar is pronounced bye-yaar. |
| Ll (double l) | Usually tl but there are many exceptions to the rule |
Fjall is pronounced F-yeah-tl. Tröllaskagi is pronounced Trotla-skagi. |
| V | This one is tough. It is pronounced as v or f. Sometimes when there is a h before, hv is pronounced like wh in why. Often it sounds like a kh. |
In general, breath out or sigh when you say v and you will be safe. Myvatn is pronounced Mee-vat-n. Hverir is pronounced fay-reer where fay rhymes with day. |
| Ð | dh / th (pronounced like in there) | Fjörður is pronounced f-yourr-dhur. |
| Þ | th (pronounced like in thorn or in Athens) | Þingvellir is pronounced thing-vet-lir. |
Below are some common words, their meanings, nouns in which these words appear and how it sounded to us when the locals said it. Very often the last n or a l that follows another consonant was said so quickly or softly that it was almost a silent letter.
| Word | Meaning | Pronunciation | Example (pronunciation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baejar | Farm | bye-yaar | Kirkjubaejarklaustur (kirk-you-bye-yaar-klaus-tur) |
| Brú | Bridge | ||
| Dalur | Valley | da-lur | Öxnadalur (aux-na-da-lur) |
| Eyja | Island | ei-ya | Eyjafjallajökull (ei-ya f-yeah-t-la yo-kut-l) |
| Fjall, Fell |
Mountain, Hill |
Fjall = fi-yeah-tl Fell = fet-l, less y sound |
Eyjafjallajökull (ei-ya f-yeah-t-la yo-kut-l), Kirkjufell (kirk-you-fet-l) |
| Fjörður | Fjord | fi-yourr-dhur | Seyðisfjörður (say-this-f-yourr-dhur), Isafjörður (ee-sa-f-yourr-dhur) |
| Foss | Waterfall | foss (rhymes with toss) | Skogafoss (sko-ga-foss), Seljalandsfoss (sel-ya-lands-foss) |
| Gjá | Fissure | ge-yeah-oo | Rauðfeldsgjá (we still have not nailed the pronunciation of this one) |
| Hellir | Cave | het-lir | Vatnshellir (vats-het-lir) |
| Hlið | Mountain side | ha-lith | Reykjahlíð (rake-ha-lith) |
| Hnjúkur | Peak | dsh-nu-kur | Leirhnjúkur (lay-dsh-nu-kur) |
| Höfði | Promontory | hovu-dhi | Stórhöfði (store-hovu-dhi) |
| Höfn | Harbour | See below this table | Höfn (See below this table) |
| Hraun | Lavafield | hrr-o-un (rhymes with drone but with a stronger hr) |
Holuhraun, Eldhraun |
| Hver | Hot spring | fay-r | Hverfjall (fay-r-f-yeah-tl), Hveragerði (fay-ra-ger-dhi) |
| Jökull | Glacier | yo-ku-tl | Vatnajökull (vaat-nah-yo-ku-tl) |
| Kirkjan | Church | kirk-yaan | Kirkjubæjarklaustur (kirk-you-bye-yaar-klaus-tur), Kirkjufell |
| Klaustur | Convent, Monastery | klaus-tur | Kirkjubæjarklaustur (kirk-you-bye-yaar-klaus-tur) |
| Reykur | Smoke | ray-kur | Reykjavík (ray-k-ya-vik), Reykjakhlið (ray-k-ha-lith) |
| Sandur | Beach | san-thur | Hellissandur (het-li-san-thur), Djupalonssandur (ju-pa-lonn-san-thur) |
| Skaginn | Peninsula | skag-inn | Tröllaskagi (trot-lass-ka-gi) |
| Staðir | Area | Egilsstaðir | |
| Strandir | Coast | ||
| Vatn | Lake | vaat-n (when locals say it fast, you just hear vaah) |
Myvatn (mee-vaah), Systravatn |
| Vík | Bay | weak | Vík í Mýrdal (weak-i-mir-dal) Reykjavík (ray-k-ya-weak)<br/Keflavík (kep-la-weak) |
| Viti | Hell | veet-i | Viti crater |
The oddest name to pronounce was that of Höfn, a town located in southeast Iceland. It is pronounced Huh-b.
It’s a mix of the word hop and the sound of a hiccup (the latter aptly suggested by a Lonely Planet writer). You must hear a local say it. You would wish there was a replay button because it is so fun. The sound is almost impossible to recreate by non-Icelanders.
