| List of elements of place names, in Icelandic
This is useful if you are reading Icelandic or Norse sagas,
to shed light on place names or even character names. Then, when you
read that Eirik the Red named his Greenland homestead "Brattahlid",
you get a mental picture of a place on a steep hill, and you can smile to yourself in a self-congratulatory way.
It could also be handy if you are making up places on the map for
a Nordic fantasy world or role-playing game.
Descriptive elements Geographic elements
(alphabetical) (by category)
---------------------- -------------------
ar oar hús house
blár blue heimili home
bjarn bear holm homestead
blom flower holt homestead
bratta steep thorp village
dogun dawn
dy'r animal höll palace, hall
fridur peace vigi fortress
fugl bird jardeign estate
glathur glad hlid gate
gledi joy gardur wall, fence
grænn green
gras grass hlada barn
grjót rocky baer farm
hár tall gardir fence
hestur horse vin, hagi pasture
hey hay
hrafn raven
hreindy'r reindeer land land
hross horse stada place
hundur dog rik realm
hvalur whale fold region (valley?)
hveiti wheat
hvita white hóll hill
kanína rabbit haeth hill
kyr cow brekka hill
loft sky bakki riverbank
mjolk milk hlíd steep hillside
morgunn morning fjall/fell hill
myrkur dark bjarg rock
ormr dragon howe hill, gravemound
ottar otter
raudur red holur hollow
reykjur smoke skogur forest
selur seal vellir plain
sig victory heidi moor
skepna sheep slétta plain
sky' cloud wegur, way road
snjor snow dalur dale, vale
sol sun ness headland, peninsula
stjarna star hellir cave
stór grand
svan swan sjór sea
svartur black fliot wide river, rivermouth
thing meeting floi bay
thoka fog fjord inlet
thorskur codfish hofn harbor
tré tree vik, vogur creek, cove
ulf wolf bryggja pier
villtur wild sker rock (in water)
vínber berry tjorn lake, tarn
viska fish vatn lake, water
foss waterfall
straumur stream
strand/fjar beach
ferja ferry
sund sound, wide bay
Notes:
- the marks in the Icelandic words are meant to be diacritical marks,
not apostrophes.
- Pronounce "j" as sort of a cross between an i and a y.
- If you know how to make the letter that looks like a d with a cross, msg me please! Hmm, like this? ð
- I don't actually know anything about Icelandic, I just gleaned this from a dictionary, so be warned.
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