Icelandic Alphabet and Language Basics

Icelandic has changed less than most European languages over the centuries, though the idea that modern Icelanders can read the original sagas without difficulty is something of a myth. Most can follow normalized modern editions, but the original manuscripts require specialist training.

For visitors, that linguistic heritage shows up everywhere, from the names of glaciers and volcanoes to the towns you'll pass through on the road.

This guide covers the Icelandic alphabet, pronunciation, useful phrases, and a few things about the language that tend to surprise visitors. Read through before your trip and you'll arrive with more confidence than most.

Key Takeaways About the Icelandic Alphabet and Language

• The Icelandic alphabet has 32 letters, some of which are taken directly from runes from Iceland's history.

• The Icelandic alphabet is phonetic. Stress always falls on the first syllable and there are no silent letters, so learning the letters goes a long way toward reading signs and place names correctly. 

• Many of Iceland's longer words, like Eyjafjallajokull, might seem confusing at first, but are actually combinations of shorter words.

• Despite their many differences, the English and Icelandic languages have many similarities.

• Even though the Icelandic language itself has changed much throughout history, modern words are added by a special word committee.

• Icelanders are proud of their unique language, and the country has a 100 percent literacy rate.

• Most Icelanders speak excellent English, so visitors won't struggle day to day. Knowing even a few Icelandic words, however, is genuinely appreciated by locals.

The Icelandic Alphabet

Let's start with the essentials, the Icelandic alphabet pronunciation. One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to speak Icelandic is pronouncing Þ like a P (it’s NOT a P) or pronouncing J like the English way of saying J (with a sort of D sound).

Icelandic is a very phonetic language. When you’ve learned how to pronounce the letters, you can read and pronounce words correctly. The stress is always on the first syllable, and there are no silent letters, so it's best to enunciate.

There are 32 Icelandic letters:

Notice there’s no C, Q, W, or Z in the modern Icelandic alphabet. Z was used until 1973, and if you come across it, it’s pronounced like an S in older texts.

All of the regular vowels (A, E, I, O, U, and Y) have identical Icelandic vowels with a comma over them. This comma is not an accent but signifies a different vowel with a different sound.

In addition, the Icelandic alphabet has the vowels Æ and Ö. So, in total, there are 14 vowels in the Icelandic alphabet and 18 consonants.

How to Pronounce Icelandic Letters

Most letters sound the same in Icelandic as they do in English, but there are still some differences. Here's an overview of each and how to pronounce Icelandic letters.

Ð – ð: This letter sounds identical to TH in the words "the," "they," or "then." One small detail worth knowing: at the end of a word or sentence, Ð softens and sounds more like Þ instead, so the same letter can shift slightly depending on where it falls.

G – g: The letter G is identical to the English G in some words, such as "golf" (golf), "gata" (street), or "gefa" (give). Sometimes, there's a soft pronunciation of the letter G, such as in "vegur" (way/road) or "skogur" (forest). This soft G is similar to G in the English words "thing," "design," or "campaign."

H – h: The H is pronounced like a regular H in English EXCEPT when it's combined with a V, then it sounds like a K. This happens, for example, in all of our question words:

• What - "hvað:" kvath

• Who - "hver:" kver (also the word for hot spring)

• When - "hvenær:"  kven-I-r

• How - "hvernig:" kvernig

• Why - "af hverju:"  af kveryu.

J – j: The Icelandic J is pronounced like the English Y. A great example is "jojo" (yo-yo), which is pronounced the same way. "Jol" (yule/Christmas) and "eyja" (island) are pronounced as "yol" and "A-ya." The English word "jazz" is pronounced "djass" in Icelandic.

L – l: A regular L is pronounced the same as an L in English. The trouble starts when there's a double L, such as in the word "jokull" (glacier). The double L has a slight click sound and can best be described as pronouncing it as TL (so, yokutl - more on O later).

R – r: The R in Icelandic is rolled. You can get away with rolling it just a little bit, but if you can roll it properly, you'll be able to pronounce "Reykjavik" like a local. 

V – v: The letter V is pronounced like V in English or like a W. There's no W in Icelandic, and most of the time Icelanders won't hear the difference between V and W. You can have fun with that. Ask them to talk about videos, VCRs, and other words beginning with a V in English. 

Þ – þ: The famous Icelandic Þ appears in many words, most notably in "þingvellir" (parliament fields) on the Golden Circle. This is NOT a P, so please don't ever pronounce Thingvellir as Pingvellir. Or write it down like that. Þ is pronounced like TH in the word "thing" or "think," and an acceptable way to write Thingvellir if you have no Þ in your keyboard is Thingvellir. 

Æ – æ: Simply, Æ is pronounced like an uppercase I. Always. You can also remember it as sounding like YE in the word "bye" (bæ). 

Ö – ö: Ö is different from O (pronounced like O in the English word "ought" or "fought") and Ó (pronounced like the English O in "oh" or "over"). Ö is pronounced like U in the word "urn," "murmur," or "under." 

Additionally, the combination of a couple of letters makes them sound different. These combinations are:

Au: When A is combined with U (AU), it's pronounced differently. I can't think of an example of it occurring in English, but it kind of sounds like a combination of Ö+I (öi). 

Ei / Ey: The combination of E and I (EI) or of E and Y (EY) sound the same. And it's pronounced like a capital A or AY in the word "way." An Icelandic example is "eyja:" A-ya (island). 

You can find more details on Icelandic alphabet pronunciation on Wikibooks.

How to Pronounce Reykjavik

As the capital city, Reykjavik is often visitors’ first and last destination in Iceland. As such, it's nice to know how to pronounce its name correctly.

Reykjavik is pronounced with an “a” and “ee” sound rather than the “e” and “i” used in its spelling. Written phonetically, it would look something like this: RAYK-YAH-VEEK. The name loosely translates as “Smoke Cove,” similar to the city’s nickname, Smoky Bay.

How to Pronounce Eyjafjallajokull

When the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano erupted in 2010, the entire world noticed, mainly because international flights were halted. However, one of the most entertaining things to come from that eruption was how news reporters and tourists butchered the pronunciation of the volcano’s name. 

Breaking the word into its three parts makes it far less intimidating. Say each section slowly, keeping stress on the first syllable, and apply the double L "tl" click sound covered earlier:

AY-ya - FYAT-la - YOH-kutl

What’s Up With All of These Long Icelandic Words?

Eyjafjallajökull, Þingvellir, Kirkjubæjarklaustur, Jökulsárgljúfur, Egilsstaðir, and Fjaðrárgljúfur are a few of the difficult Icelandic words you’re likely to come across when traveling in Iceland.

All of these words are combined words.

Let's break down Eyjafjallajokull, probably the most internationally known Icelandic volcano after the 2010 eruption. This word consists of three separate words: "eyja" (island), "fjall" (mountain), and "jokull" (glacier).

So the daunting task of pronouncing Eyjafjallajökull is a little easier when you break it down, just as IslandMountainGlacier would look like a tricky word to say if it were a single English word, though it’s okay when it’s three separate words.

The same applies to the other long place names previously mentioned:

• "Þingvellir" is composed of the words "þing" (parliament) and "vellir" (fields), meaning ParliamentFields.

• "Kirkjubæjarklaustur" is a combination of "kirkja" (church), the possessive form of "bær" (town), and "klaustur" (convent), meaning ChurchTown’sConvent.

• "Jökulsárgljúfur" is three words, the possessive form of "jökull" (glacier), the possessive form of "á" (river), and the word "gljúfur" (canyon), meaning Glacier’sRiver’sCanyon.

• The town "Egilsstaðir" in East Iceland means Egil’sPlace, and Egill is a man's name.

• Finally, "Fjaðrárgljúfur" means FeatherRiver’sCanyon, deriving from "fjaðrir" (feathers), "ár" (river), and "gljúfur" (canyon).

As you can see, most place names in Iceland are very see-through. Eyjafjallajökull is indeed a glacier on a mountain on an island. The parliament used to gather at the fields of Þingvellir. And there used to be a convent at Kirkjubæjarklaustur.

Icelandic is not the only language that has a habit of combining words into a single long one.

It’s also prominent in German, such as in the word “kugelschreiber” (Icelandic: kúlupenni, English: ball-pen). English also has many words combined, although there are seldom more than two (blacksmith, cheesemonger, heartache).

Are There Any Similarities Between Icelandic and English?

There are PLENTY of similarities between Icelandic and English. Icelandic has at least two internationally known words: "Geyser" and "Saga." 

The word "geyser" derives from Iceland’s biggest geyser, Geysir (a key stop on Golden Circle tours), and the Icelandic Sagas written in the 1200s are great examples of epic sagas. The word "saga" simply means "story" in Icelandic.

There are many more similarities between Icelandic and English words than just those two. Maybe you’ve seen some in the examples given above ("jól" = yule, "gefa" = give, "vegur" = way).

During Viking times, people in Iceland shared a language with the Scandinavian people and could communicate with people living in England without much difficulty. Iceland's isolation meant the language stayed closer to its Old Norse roots than any other Scandinavian language.

The idea that modern Icelanders can read the original saga manuscripts without difficulty is more complicated than it sounds.

Most modern readers rely on normalized editions that use contemporary spelling conventions, making the texts far more accessible than the originals.

Iceland is an isolated country, and its language has stayed relatively unchanged and close to its roots throughout the centuries. Today, it’s the closest you can get to the shared Old Norse.

The same cannot be said about English. For example, besides being influenced by Nordic languages, there are many French, German, Latin, and Greek influences in English, e.g., rendez-vous, déjà-vu, Zeitgeist, biology, philosophy, zoology, curriculum vitae, etc.

The Icelandic language is quite similar to many old words in English. The term "you" was, for example, taken up in England quite recently and replaced "thou," "thy," and "thee" because it was more similar to the fashionable formal address "vous" in French.

"Thou" or "thy" isn’t too far off from "þú" (Icelandic for the singular form of "you"), and "thee" isn’t far from "þér" (a form of "þú" and the old way of addressing people politely).

There’s no "polite" way of addressing people in modern Icelandic, such as "Sie" or "Vous" in German and French. Everyone uses the word "þú." On that note, everyone is also addressed by their first name, and never by their surname.

The word "eyja" (that you should be familiar with now) can be shortened to "ey" and still mean "island." That would explain the names of the Orkney Islands, Jersey, and Guernsey.

The English word "husband" doesn’t have an obvious meaning behind it, but it’s very similar to the Icelandic word "húsbóndi" which translates as "house farmer" or "man of the house." "Húsbóndi" isn’t commonly used as a term for a husband in the sense of "man and wife" (or "man and husband") in Icelandic anymore. That word is now "eiginmaður" (that translates to "a man of your own").

In addition, many old English place names are similar to Icelandic words. For example, mountains with the word "fell" in them (e.g., Scafell Pike and Cross Fell), which is an obvious connection to the Icelandic word for mountain: "fjall."

There are also tons of similar words related to fishing and the sea, such as "gangvegur" (gangway), "skip" (ship), "bátur" (boat), "fiskur" (fish), "akkeri" (anchor), "sjór" (sea), etc.

What’s Special About the Icelandic Language?

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by Max Naylor. No edits made.

Icelandic is an ancient language that hasn't changed much throughout the centuries. New Icelandic words are frequently invented, and in theory, anyone can create a new word.

A special word committee called Íslenska málnefndin makes up new words for every new invention or slang that's thrown their way. Some words have gained more popularity and are now used in everyday speech, while others don't fare as well. New words even appear on the side of milk cartons, giving everyday Icelanders a chance to stay current with the language as it evolves.

That protection has limits, however. English taking over entire domains, including tourism, higher education, and the workplace, poses a growing challenge. With English dominating the digital world that children grow up in, exposure to spoken Icelandic is shrinking in ways that could affect how fluently the next generation acquires the language.

Although many languages use the same root of a word for new inventions (and old roots for words such as chemistry, biology, or psychology), Iceland is determined to make its own unique words for every concept there is.

Many stable words such as "land" = land, "vin" = wine, "hus" = house, and "glas" = (drinking) glass are similar and easy to learn. On the other hand, newer words such as "tolva" (computer), "sjonvarp" (television), or "rafmagn" (electricity) are very different from one another.

The word for computer, "tolva," is a combination of the old term "volva" (fortune teller) and the T from the word "tala" (number). So essentially, "computer" is "numeric teller" in Icelandic. 

The word "sjonvarp" (television) is composed of "sjon" (sight) and "varp" (projection). "Rafmagn" (electricity) is composed of "raf" (electron) and "magn" (mass). 

So many words make total sense when you know the individual words within them, such as "isskápur" (ice closet = fridge) or "frystikista" (frozen chest = freezer).

Do Icelanders Speak English?

Yes, and remarkably well. Over 90% of Icelanders speak English fluently, making Iceland one of the most English-friendly countries in the world for travelers. You will have no trouble navigating, dining, or getting around using only English, whether you are in Reykjavik or exploring smaller towns.

This isn't accidental. English is a mandatory subject in Icelandic schools from a young age, and foreign films and television are broadcast in their original language with Icelandic subtitles rather than dubbed. 

Children grow up absorbing English naturally alongside their mother tongue. Many Icelanders also speak Danish, German, French, or Spanish, and are generally happy to practice any of them.

The same culture that produces one of the world's highest literacy rates also produces a country of voracious readers. Every year before Christmas, Iceland experiences a surge of new book releases known as "jólabókaflóð," or the Yule Book Flood, where books are exchanged as gifts and read through the holiday. 

That said, making an effort with a few Icelandic words goes a long way. Locals genuinely appreciate it when visitors try, even if just a "takk" (thanks) or "góðan daginn" (good day). You'll find more on that in the phrases section below.

Useful Phrases in Icelandic for First-Time Visitors

You don't need to speak Icelandic to get around Iceland, but knowing a few words and phrases makes a genuine difference. Here are some of the most useful Icelandic phrases to know before your trip:

Another exchange to note, if you’re invited to dinner, it’s customary to end the meal by saying “takk fyrir mig” (“thanks for me,” meaning “thanks for the meal”). The host usually replies, “verði þér að góðu,” which translates to “may it be of good use to you”. This exchange marks the end of the meal and signals it’s time to clear the table or get up.

The same exchange can take place if you’re leaving a party and saying goodbye to your host, where you can also use the plural “takk fyrir okkur” (“thanks for us”) if you’re more than one person.

Icelandic Phrases and Sayings

Icelandic pride in language shows up in unexpected places. Every Easter in Iceland, chocolate eggs sold across the country contain a slip of paper with an old Icelandic saying inside. Many Icelanders will tell you the sayings and proverbs are more memorable than the chocolate itself, and the tradition has no real equivalent elsewhere in the world.

The language is also rich in idioms and wordplay that rarely survive translation into English. Word puns are a national pastime, and Icelandic jokes tend to lose everything in the journey across languages. 

A few expressions worth knowing before your trip:

• Rúsínan í pylsuendanum (the raisin at the end of the hot dog): A pleasant surprise, or the highlight of something.

• Gluggaveður (window weather): Beautiful to look at from inside, but too cold or harsh to actually be out in. Iceland has a lot of this.

• Áfram með smjörið (on with the butter): Let's get on with it.

• Ég kem alveg af fjöllum (I come completely from the mountains): I have no idea what you're talking about.

Is Icelandic One of the Hardest Languages in the World?

Icelandic has a reputation for being difficult, and that reputation isn't entirely undeserved. The grammar is complex, words change form depending on how they're used in a sentence, and some sounds take time to get right. 

For English speakers, it is nowhere near as challenging as learning Arabic, Mandarin, or Russian. The alphabet is Latin, the language is fully phonetic, and once you know the letters, you can read anything out loud.

For visitors, knowing a handful of words and phrases goes a long way. Since nearly every Icelander speaks English, you won't be lost without Icelandic. The sections above cover everything you need for a comfortable trip.

For those planning a longer stay or a move to Iceland, learning the language becomes more worthwhile over time. English works fine for daily life in Reykjavik, but Icelandic opens doors socially and professionally, particularly in fields like healthcare, law, and education where the language is essential.

Where To Start if You Want To Learn Icelandic

If you're learning from abroad, Icelandic Online is the most comprehensive free resource available, backed by the University of Iceland. It covers reading and listening well across several levels, making it a solid foundation before you arrive.

The Drops app is worth adding alongside it for building vocabulary, though it focuses on nouns rather than grammar or sentence structure, so treat it as a supplement rather than a standalone resource.

If you're already in Iceland, a few options stand out. Mimir is well regarded for intensive structured learning, with classes meeting several times a week. The Tin Can Factory takes a similar approach but structures classes around shift work schedules, which is useful if you work in hospitality or service.

For those who want a more academic path, the University of Iceland offers a practical one-year program in Icelandic as a second language, as well as a full three-year bachelor's degree. The practical program is particularly well suited to people who want to function confidently in daily Icelandic life without committing to a full academic degree.

Whatever route you take, a few things help across the board: focus on practical vocabulary first and don't let the grammar intimidate you early on, and consume Icelandic media you actually enjoy (films, music, or even Icelandic subtitles on shows you know well). 

When you're ready, encourage the Icelanders around you to respond to you in Icelandic rather than switching to English. It’s harder than it sounds, since most Icelanders will default to English the moment they sense you're a foreigner, but it makes a significant difference over time.

Ready to Hear Icelandic for Yourself?

You've covered the alphabet, the pronunciation rules, the phrases, and the quirks that make Icelandic unlike any other language you've encountered. None of it requires memorization before your trip, but arriving with even a basic familiarity makes the whole experience richer.

You'll encounter the language everywhere once you arrive, from road signs and menus to the names of the Icelandic places that will stay with you long after you leave. A "takk" here, a correctly pronounced "Reykjavik" there, and you'll already be ahead of most visitors.