Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
At first I just wanted to chronicle my hiking trip to Iceland in the summer of 2007, but friends and family persuaded me to write about other hikes and post pictures from those outings. Mother Nature is always obliging as far as observation and creativity are concerned - not to mention adventure and growth - so I'll post more hike descriptions as they happen!
About Me
Why Iceland?
Well, I don't know, really - the idea simply popped into my brain, but then Nobel Prize-winning literature, picture books, the Lonely Planet guidebook, maps, language CDs, and local Icelandic connections found their way to my consciousness and I was ready to go! Perhaps it's the frontier aspect that's particularly appealing to this Texas-born hiker - skies that go on forever, the wildness, the independant reputation of this country that reaches over into the Arctic proper, springing open the doors of the imagination and history’s tales of treacherous journeys and unbelievable adventure.
Oh, those silly disclaimers!
Not that I should necessarily explain myself (this is a blog, fer cryin' out loud!), I thought it might be a good idea to bring up the "d" word. I write, spell, and speak in American English and if this causes confusion, well, please remember that Americans have been mangling proper English for well over 200 years, so mutations are no doubt in order. And speaking of language, I will undoubtedly misspell various Icelandic words so apologies in advance. Icelanders, feel free to offer me the corrected spelling.I bring up the language issue because I found that, on several occasions during my recent trip to Iceland where I traveled with people from Canada, England, Iceland, and Scotland, that we on both sides of the Atlantic fulfill Churchill's words rather well - "Two nations divided by a common language." Some of those instances were rather hysterical and probably won't be annotated on this site due to, ahem, generally questionable content. Suffice it to say that one should use the term "bum bag" in Britain when referring to a small pouch worn around the waist by a strap...
Some pictures will enlarge when you click on them; some won't. If you'd like to see one in a larger form, just write a comment to me.
Some pictures will enlarge when you click on them; some won't. If you'd like to see one in a larger form, just write a comment to me.
Useful Icelandic Words
For those of you not familiar with Old Norse or Modern Icelandic, here are a list of words that may be helpful for you to know while reading this blog. You will probably note many words that we use in Modern English.
I'm not qualified by any stretch of the imagination to offer instruction in this language, but here are some very, very basic tips for the pronunciation of letters for those more familiar with English pronunciation -
á - "ou" in ouch
é - "y" in yet
í - ee
ó - "o" in oh
ö - like the French "eu"
ú - "oo" in moon
ý - ee
þ - th
æ - I
ð - th
hv - always pronounced "kv"
Days of the week -
laugardagur - Saturday
sunnudagur - Sunday
mánudagur - Monday
þriðjudagur - Tuesday
miðvikudagur - Wednesday
fimmtudagur - Thursday
föstudagur - Friday
fell, fjall - mountain
fjörður - fjord
foss - waterfall, falls, cascade
góðan dag - good day
hamborgari - hamburger
höfn - harbor, port, seafront
hreindýr - reindeer
hval - whale
Íslensku - Icelandic
júlí - July (in fact, all the months are very close to their English counterparts)
snæ - form of the word "snow"
vík - inlet, cove
I'm not qualified by any stretch of the imagination to offer instruction in this language, but here are some very, very basic tips for the pronunciation of letters for those more familiar with English pronunciation -
á - "ou" in ouch
é - "y" in yet
í - ee
ó - "o" in oh
ö - like the French "eu"
ú - "oo" in moon
ý - ee
þ - th
æ - I
ð - th
hv - always pronounced "kv"
Days of the week -
laugardagur - Saturday
sunnudagur - Sunday
mánudagur - Monday
þriðjudagur - Tuesday
miðvikudagur - Wednesday
fimmtudagur - Thursday
föstudagur - Friday
fell, fjall - mountain
fjörður - fjord
foss - waterfall, falls, cascade
góðan dag - good day
hamborgari - hamburger
höfn - harbor, port, seafront
hreindýr - reindeer
hval - whale
Íslensku - Icelandic
júlí - July (in fact, all the months are very close to their English counterparts)
snæ - form of the word "snow"
vík - inlet, cove
No comments:
Post a Comment