ICELAND tel. 01737 218 800 | discover- the- world. co. uk11 PHRASES QUICK GUIDE TO ICELANDIC NAMES & PLACES For those who may be a little daunted at the prospect of reading Icelandic place names ( to yourself or out loud!) due to some unusual characters in their vocabulary, we've put together a brief guide which we hope makes life a little easier. Once you are familiar with the basics, you should fi nd this handy when browsing this brochure as well as when travelling in Iceland. FREQUENTLY USED TERMS Here we give the spelling, the phonetic pronunciation in brackets then an example of usage and fi nally, what it means! Foss/ fossar ( foss) Gullfoss - waterfall Fjordur ( f- yor- dur) Isafjordur - fjord Hraun ( ha- rune) Stadarhraun - lava, lava fi eld Vatn ( vat) Myvatn - lake Jokull ( yoh- cull) Vatnajokull - glacier, icecap Fjall/ fjoll ( f- yall/ f- yoll) Kerlingarfjoll - mountain Hlid ( h- lid) Reykjahlid - gate Gerdi ( ger- dee) Hveragerdi - garden Strandir ( stran- deer) Hornstrandir - beach/ coast Vik ( vic) Grindavik - small bay/ cove/ inlet Lon ( lon) Jokulsarlon - lagoon Bjarg ( b- yarg) Latrabjarg - cliff Stadir/ Stadur ( stah- deer/ stah- dur) Hallormsstadur - place, spot Dalur ( dah- lur) Modrudalur - valley/ dale Hofn ( herp) Hofn - harbour, port The offi cial language of Iceland is Icelandic ( íslenska), which remains very similar to, although not quite the same as 13th-century Norse. Icelandic writing uses the Latin alphabet, but with three characters long ago lost from English: Ð, ð ( eth) = shown as ' d', such as Reykjahlið = Reykjahlid Þ, þ ( thorn) = shown as ' th', such as Þingvellir = Thingvellir æ ( a- er) = shown as ' a e', such as Arbær = Arbaer As for accents over letters, don't even get us started! Á, Í, É and Ú all change the sound of a word but that is a matter for serious linguists! It's worth bearing in mind that when speaking, the emphasis/ intonation is placed on the fi rst syllable - an easy rule to follow! HANDY PHRASES - A BIT OF BASIC ICELANDIC! Although most Icelanders speak excellent English, a few simple words and a little effort is always appreciated! Hello Hallo ( hal- law) / Hi Hae ( high) Goodbye Bless ( bless; often said twice, ' bless bless') Good morning Godan daginn. ( goh- dhan dahg- in) Good evening Gott kvold ( got kvur- lt) Good night Goda nott ( goh- da noh- t) Thank you Thakka ther fyrir ( thah- ka thyer fi - rir) Thanks ( informal) Takk ( tah- k) Yes Ja ( your) or Ju ( you; for answering a negative question) No Nei ( nay) CLEAR SIGNPOSTING - HOW REFRESHING! When travelling in Iceland, accommodations are almost always well-signposted from the road, and other road signs and markings are clear and easy to spot. Keep your eyes peeled for this symbol , which you'll see where there's an attraction, place of interest or a cultural/ heritage site. For those unmarked secrets and our own personal highlights refer to your complimentary ' Places to Visit' booklet, or the comprehensive Landmark Guide to Iceland - which accompanies each Discover the World self- drive holiday! SONS AND DAUGHTERS. Iceland maintains another Norse tradition: the custom of using patronyms rather than surnames. An Icelander's given name is followed by his or her parent's fi rst name ( usually the father's), and the suffi x - son or - dottir, e. g. Gudrun Petursdottir ( Gudrun, Petur's daughter). Because of the patronymic last names Icelanders usually use fi rst names, for instance phone books are alphabetized by fi rst name rather than last name! This also applies when addressing an individual; Icelanders would never expect to be addressed as Mr or Ms Jonsson/- dottir, no matter how important they might be! Gullfoss is spectacular, even in winter!

ICELANDTRAVEL DIRECTORY 12Why choose Discover the World - see page 4 For our office opening hours please visit our website To help you get to know Iceland a little better we've divided the country into eight regions. See what makes each so special and why travellers return time and time again to this diverse and simply enchanting island. ICELAND TRAVEL DIRECTORY Many of our holidays cover several regions and the small maps on the tour pages display each route they follow. A more detailed map unfolds from the back cover of this brochure; this is specially designed to be used in conjunction with our self- drive pages. We also include a handy distance chart as Iceland might be bigger than you think! If you'd like to know how to get to Iceland, on page 116 you'll fi nd a map showing the various routes we offer from a number of airports within the UK. East Fjords Reykjavik Kefl avik Akureyri  = Highlands South West South East Snaefellsness West Iceland West Fjords North North East East