#icelandic

[no-celebration]

Kirkjufell

[thingsdavidlikes]

Svodufoss Waterfall by Vagelis Pikoulas

[yvanspijk]

Wool & lana

The word lana (wool) in languages such as Spanish is etymologically related to English wool. For words to be related, they don't have to look like each other. Instead, you have to be able to trace them back to the same ancestor through regular sound changes - and that's what linguists managed to do with wool and lana. The infographic shows the Germanic and Romance family trees of these words.

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[arc-hus]

Hafsteinshús, Bakkaflöt, Garðabær, Iceland - Högna Sigurðardóttir

Icelandic architect Högna Sigurðardóttir

“I AM NOT LIGHT, I am heavy” Högna Sigurðardóttir (6 July 1929 - 10 February 2017) was a leading Icelandic architect. She was the first woma

[folkfashion]

Icelandic woman's dress, Iceland, by Nordic Craft Week

[einarbaldvin]

"Þá verður það er mikil tíðindi þykja að úlfurinn gleypir sólina og þykir mönnum það mikið mein."

"Then shall happen what seems great tidings: the Wolf shall swallow the sun..."

—Gylfaginning

[lyragoth]

Um þann er kom með forna söngva Það var sagt á Íslandi á dögum Sturlunga að ókunnur maður færi víða um land. Hann var hár vexti og dökkhærður og sýndist hvorki ungur né gamall. Hann bar hörpu með sér og dvaldist sjaldan lengi á sama stað.

Eitt haust kom hann að veislu mikilli. Menn spurðu hann að nafni, en hann kvaðst það síðar mundu segja. Um kvöldið var honum boðið að syngja, og tók hann þá hörpu sína. Varð þá hljótt í skálanum.

Þá kvað hann um Celebrimbor, son Curufins, sonar Fëanors, og sagði að enginn smiður hefði verið meiri. Mönnum þótti undarlegt hversu glöggt hann kunni frá þeim tíðindum að segja, er gerst höfðu löngu fyrir daga allra lifandi manna.

Ungan sá ek bróðurson minn, er við eldinn lék hann; mjúkar hendur mótuðu málm af föðurarfi.

Síðar smíðaði hann hringi þrjá af visku; eldur, vatn og vindur vörðu verk hans lengi.

Bjartur smiður smíðaði bauga með miklum mætti; ljós álfa dvínaði eigi meðan lifði hans list.

Að því loknu lagði maðurinn frá sér hörpuna. Sumir sögðu að tár hefðu sést í augum hans. En er menn leituðu hans næsta morgun, var hann farinn. Menn vissu eigi hver hann var né hvaðan hann kom. Sumir sögðu að hann mundi eigi vera maður af mannlegri ætt, heldur einn þeirra sem fara óséðir um heiminn og birtast mönnum um stund. Aðrir sögðu aðeins að hann hefði borið mikla sorg í brjósti og gamla söngva í minni sínu.

Small notes: 1. I wrote this piece inspired by Icelandic sagas, as if it had preserved a memory of Maglor wandering among Men long after the events of LOTR. The people who hear him sing don't know who he is, only that he is a strange harp-player. 2. The poem is inspired by dróttkvætt. I know true dróttkvætt has very strict rules of rhythm, syllables, and internal rhyme, so this isn't meant to be a reconstruction of a real skaldic stanza, just my attempt to capture the feeling of it: a praise-song carrying memory, honor, etc, although the poem is not really a warrior's praise of Celebrimbor, but an uncle remembering the child he saw grow into the greatest smith of the Elves in Middle-earth. 3. The Days of the Sturlungs were a period of Icelandic history, roughly 1220–1264, when Iceland was dominated mainly by the Sturlung family. During this time Iceland was not ruled by a king; instead, powerful chieftains (goðar) competed for influence.

My contribution to @jrrt-native-languages-fest Translation to English under the cut

Of the one who came with ancient songs It was said in Iceland, in the days of the Sturlungs, that an unknown man traveled widely throughout the land. He was tall in stature and dark-haired, and seemed neither young nor old. He carried a harp with him and seldom stayed long in one place.

One autumn he came to a great feast. Men asked him his name, but he said that he would tell them later. In the evening he was invited to sing, and he took up his harp. Then silence fell in the hall.

Then he sang of Celebrimbor, son of Curufin, son of Fëanor, and said that no smith had ever been greater. The people found it strange how clearly he could tell of those events that had happened long before the days of any living man.

Young I saw my nephew, when he played beside the fire; gentle hands shaped metal from his father’s inheritance.

Later he forged three rings with wisdom; fire, water, and wind guarded his works for a long time.

A bright smith crafted rings with mighty skill; the light of the Elves did not fade while his art endured.

After that, the man laid down his harp. Some said that tears had been seen in his eyes. But when people searched for him the next morning, he was gone.

Men did not know who he was or where he came from. Some said that he must not have been a man of mortal kind, but one of those who travel unseen through the world and appear to people for a time. Others said only that he had carried great sorrow in his heart and ancient songs in his memory.