Iceland : Master Icelandic Pronunciation with 5 Expert Tips

Iceland : Modern Icelandic pronunciation has some surprises in store for learners. But with these 5 tips from an experienced teacher of the language, you can sound a lot better pronouncing the names of people and places in the Land of Fire and Ice. With Ian McCollum of ‪@ForgottenWeapons‬
Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit jacksonwcrawfo... (includes bio and linked list of all videos).
Jackson Crawford’s Patreon page: / norsebysw
Visit Grimfrost at glnk.io/6q1z/j...
Latest FAQs: vimeo.com/3751... (updated Nov. 2019).
Jackson Crawford’s translation of Hávamál, with complete Old Norse text: www.hackettpub... or www.amazon.com...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda: www.hackettpub... or www.amazon.com...
Audiobook: www.audible.co...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Saga of the Volsungs: www.hackettpub... or www.amazon.com...
Audiobook: www.audible.co...
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#iceland #icelandic

[@solomongrundy9735]

Never would've guessed Gun Jesus would guest on this channel, he gets around.

[@andrwblood9162]

No one expects him when he comes into your life. But when he does, you know peace...

[@cullenpinney2997]

@@omikhlephonon your mother

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

Expecting to see Jackson Crawford at a backup gun match next.

[@lakrids-pibe]

More like Gun Thor this time.

[@shaynethechangingman322]

I remember years ago Ian mentioning in a Q&A that he would love to collaborate with Crawford but wasn't sure how it would happen. Funny how things work out.

[@ConnorNorris]

Excited to see Dr. Crawford on Forgotten Weapons to talk about an old bolt action viking sword they found in a river in Iceland.

[@lakrids-pibe]

Designed for 7.65mm Longue

[@Wonky-Donkey]

No you got it all wrong. They found a semiautomatic axe in Iceland.

[@BrazilianAnarchy]

@@Wonky-Donkey A true viking classic! Especially the ceremonial ones with intertwined beast carvings.

[@ScottyShaw]

I've heard they've found a fully-automatic crossbow 😱😱😱

[@Wonky-Donkey]

@@ScottyShaw that was Jörg Sprav who found the full auto crossbow. But it's the full auto spear you should be worried about.

[@robertcaseydavis]

The crossover I could have never even hoped for.

[@rediius]

I like to say, "this is the greatest thing I never knew I always wanted."

[@Glockatiel]

This is exactly what I said!

[@thhseeking]

Just need Gylfi from "Just Icelandic" :P

[@000Mazno000]

I literally just stared at this thumbnail in awe for a minute before clicking

[@eldsveg_s]

I feel you

[@raf155]

Same. Wait is that… flood of joy and awe. Gun Jesus IS ONE OF US

[@UrinationNation]

I thought for a second the Algorithm has been fully integrated into the AI and it's now just mixing and matching things, it's very strange.

[@stayhungry1503]

i was like "is that an icelander who happens to llook exactly like ian mccollum!?"

[@johnscott6696]

This is blowing my mind. These are my two favorite youtube personalities in one video. It would be awesome to see Jackson Crawford in a Forgotten Weapons video.

[@victorkreig6089]

Not Dr. Crawford and Jon Townsend?

[@VosperCDN]

I saw the thumbnail and thought, "hang on, that facial hair looks familiar ..."

[@Patrick_919]

They could both go over a recovered viking weapon from their own perspectives.

[@umbraelegios4130]

Trifecta would have Skall in the video. Skall and Ian discussing use of a weapon and Crawford correcting their pronunciation.

[@peartree8338]

How to pronounce Carl Gustav, Bofors... Det vore toppen! 😊

[@darraghchapman]

A really weird but wonderful coincidence of youtubers I follow! I have always noticed and appreciated that Ian makes a concerted effort to pronounce foreign words correctly. It's great to see you two together! Just to perch my personal cherry on top, why not drag Max Miller over to beautiful Colorado/Wyoming for a chat? He really goes above and beyond, despite never prescribing himself as a linguist or polyglot or cetera.

[@Sindrijo]

I'm seeing it now, Jackson brings over some hákarl and Max gets to be reborn.

[@ryanxvx]

I was going to make a joke about that guy looking exactly like Ian from Forgotten Weapons...

[@SSCinema]

My thought process exactly. Haven't been this confused in a bit.

[@trapper1211]

I just wrote a comment exactly like yours xd

[@lordapolyon]

Jackson Crawford is just Ian from an alternate universe where he got really into languages instead of guns

[@SvendleBerries]

@@lordapolyon Óðinn likes to bring his pan-dimensional children together every now and then to chat with eachother.

[@Paveway-chan]

Ian: "So, how do you say muzzle break or recoil mechanism in Old Norse?" Jackson: "Colorado-confusion"

[@AuburnTigers111]

No he would wonder how to as for .32 French Long.

[@jic1]

@@AuburnTigers111 You say 'steinelammo'.

[@victorkreig6089]

Jackson wouldn't be confused ,he knows a deal about firearms

[@jic1]

@@victorkreig6089 But since those things didn't exist in the times when Old Norse was spoken, it's unlikely that there would be words for them.

[@victorkreig6089]

@@jic1 there are word equivalents that could work

[@daemonharper3928]

When two of your random interests collide......it's like when two of your dear friends from different groups meet ....your old college mates meeting your work friends and you don't know which version of yourself to be! I follow both of these guys.

[@seanobrien798]

Dr. Jackson Crawford AND Gun Jesus in the same video?!?! What an awesome time in which I live!

[@GinSoakedBoy]

Don't you just love it when two of your fave, seemingly unrelated, channels do a collab.

[@waaghals]

This is the crossover that I did not realize I wanted. I suspect the algorithm has fully figured me out.

[@toasty862]

now jackson needs to go shoot things

[@simaocranmer2949]

As a foreigner who lived in Iceland for 1 and a half years, I can say this is very accurate and helpful for those starting out. Would've loved to find this video 1,5 years ago!

[@Schlabbeflicker]

The crossover we never knew we needed, but the one we deserve

[@johanpeturdam]

Well, if I may add an "actually": kk as hkk (pre-aspiration) is not just in Icelandic, Faroese, and Scottish Gaelic in this neck of the woods. It's also found in a few if not all Sami languages. I know that Pite Sami and Skolt Sami at the very least have it.

[@Sindrijo]

hah! an akksjúalí

[@hognigk96]

Funny thing is a lot of foreign people who hear me speak Icelandic have assumed I was speaking Finnish

[@johanpeturdam]

@@hognigk96 Well, since both Icelandic and Finnish very strictly follow the rule that stress is always on the first syllable, I can see why they would say that.

[@SvendleBerries]

Its like a random encounter event in a game, Ian just appears in the middle of nowhere for seemingly no reason lol

[@berntlie6799]

Double L (LL) -- similar to South-Western Norwegian dialects, e.g., Rogaland, where "alle" is pronounced "adle"? Some dialects are even more "extreme", e.g., in Setesdal, where LL becomes DD, as in "Valle" -> "Vadde", "Helle" -> "Hedde" (as in well known folk song "Håvard Hedde"), "alle" becomes "adde", etc.

[@jacksteelo7989]

I am an English and mythology teacher. Who would have thought that my arms hobby would have been how I stumbled upon your awesome channel?! Subscribed.

[@danielrhymes4593]

Given how conservative the spelling of Icelandic is it makes sense it's pronounced so counter intuitively, but it explains why it was really challenging to try to learn online without a teacher.

[@minirop]

Look at French about how "au" and "eau" are both pronounced "o".

[@gubjorggisladottir3525]

Conservative spelling? you either spell correctly or incorrectly but we do not have a spelling be contests in Icelandic (not so I have ever known at least)

[@danielrhymes4593]

@@gubjorggisladottir3525 by that I mean Icelandic is spelt almost identically to Old Norse despite not sounding the same, as in, hasn't changed much in a thousand years. It's not a value judgement, just an observation :)

[@danielrhymes4593]

@@minirop fair! I learned French in school so I didn't have the same struggle learning as I did with Icelandic

[@berserkurhrafn]

Bruh you guys were like 30 minutes from where I live 😅 What a surprise on my feed!

[@b43xoit]

You are lucky to live close to such a beautiful feature of nature.

[@Wonky-Donkey]

I was born and raised in Iceland but have been living in the states for the last 25 years and I am a US citizen. I hope you and gun Jesus had a good time in my home country. And just to ....umm... simplify things on the LL in Icelandic. The word galli when referring to a flaw the 2 L's have a hard pronunciation like the 2 L's in jökull or in fell. But when galli is referring to overalls or a certain combination of clothes the 2 L's have a soft pronunciation like the L's in the English word "fall" Hope this clears thing up for you.

[@jishcatg]

Clear as mud now, thanks! 🙂

[@Sindrijo]

Gallinn er gallaður, hann er galli í málinu, það er galli málsins, gallinn. Good luck. :D

[@Wonky-Donkey]

Palli var á palli með Malla að malla og þá kom Alla með alla og fór að kalla á Kalla er hann sá Halla í halla sem fann galla á galla. And let's not forget.. Jón á Á á á.

[@Addy1987]

@@Wonky-Donkey Ái á Á, á á í á - Grandpa at the farm named Á has a sheep in a river. (Ái is an old word for grandpa though)

[@KaitenKenbu]

What in the world am I watching. My worlds are colliding!! What a time to be alive.

[@Mara999]

I've long wanted to learn how to speak Icelandic, to use it as a gateway to learning Old Norse. I'm a Finland-Swedish speaker, so my Swedish is a bit archaic compared to Swedish-Swedish, with lots of harsher sounds. Modern Icelandic pronunciation has quite a bit of similar sounds to Finnish, while your guides to Old Norse curiously resemble Finnish even more. That's why I suspect that I could reasonably well learn to pronounce Old East Norse by first learning modern Icelandic, then try to adapt it to my natural Finnish-inspired dialect of Swedish.

[@DoormanDan88]

Love me some Ian and Forgotten Weapons! Never thought I’d see you two together on KZbin. The internet sure can be a great place.

[@lakrids-pibe]

I have vivid memories about Ian's videos on the norwegian *Postførervergepistol* and the ones he made from *Tøjhusmuseet* in Denmark. He's not afraid of a linguistic challenge.

[@prince-solomon]

Ian & Jackson, you look like brothers. One is into guns, the other into runes. Fantastic video! I hope to see you make an appearance on his channel aswell! Ian has to pronounce german words so often on his channel, i think you both could make a conversation in german without a problem :D

[@rubezahlmountainworks7974]

They do look related!

[@MrVvulf]

When I saw the thumbnail, I thought, "Where did Dr. Crawford find someone who looks exactly like Gun Jesus?". My mind wouldn't fathom that a crossover with Forgotten Weapons could happen. Hopefully this collaboration comes full circle and we get to see Dr. Crawford on a firing range with Ian.

[@batti591]

TBF, every other guy in South Iceland in Gun Jesus's age range looks something like that.

[@matthewcrist1012]

Gun Jesus and Viking Thor in one video! Amazing!

[@melissamybubbles6139]

That's a beautiful spot. I'm glad you got to go there.

[@Gershom_Nachri]

Love both of these guy's channels. Awesome and unexpected crossover.

[@etepeteseat7424]

I was expecting to eventually see a Jackson Crawford/Forgotten Weapons crossover. This was not what I had envisioned, lol.

[@asathered]

This is such a wild crossover between youtubers and yet it also makes perfect sense

[@DerInterloper]

I came here for Icelantic! I didn't know I would see Ian here!!!!!

[@alexfurst1397]

This is the crossover we have all been waiting for. Hopefully you get to visit the range with him in AZ.

[@ollep9142]

I'm impressed by the audio here. Sitting that close to Dettifoss the noise from the river usually makes any conversation a shouting match...

[@Duececoupe]

I thought that fella to the left looked familiar.... Will there be a Forgotten Weapons video on Mjölner in the future? 🤨🤔😉

[@grantcook3739]

An April Fools crossover?

[@gunnarhakonsson2477]

The crossover i never thought i would see…and the one i needed the most…

[@brianknezevich9894]

Hahaha, I've followed Forgotten weapons longer, but your channel is what inspired me to spend the time and effort to learn conversational Icelandic...

[@gratefulguy4130]

Tolkien uses th & dh to represent those differences between "th" sounds. He got a lot of inspiration for Elvish (especially Quendi, the High Elven) from the Icelandic language.

[@TheOnlyToblin]

You got that backwards, but otherwise correctly. Quenya (high elven, or old elven) is largely inspired by Finnish, while Sindarin (new elven) is inspired by a whole load of languages, but also Icelandic. Though, as him being a linguist, he likely took inspiration from a whole lot of languages for all his conlangs, so you saying Quenya being inspired by Icelandic likely isn't outright wrong, even if Finnish and Estonian were the "primary" inspirations.

[@andeve3]

Quenya looks like Latin and Gothic made baby with Finnish. Sindarin feels much more Welsh, maybe because of the words with gw in them.

[@hattorihanzo2275]

I spent a week in Iceland trying to say "Eyjafjallajökull". Rolls off the tongue once I nailed it down but it took time.

[@nirfz]

Oh, the dreaded vulcano of 2010. I remember the chaos it's eruption brought upon europes air travel.

[@j_woodart]

Fascinating video! I'm currently two years into learning Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic) and it never occured to me that the pre-aspiration I'm now familiar with is linked to a sound I had noticed but not thought about in Icelandic and other languages in the region. I won't be able to un-notice that any time I hear Icelandic from now on! One fun thing in Gàidhlig is that this pre-aspiration is sometimes the only way (besides context) to distinguish between words that are otherwise homophones, such as "Mac" (son) and "Mag" (to mock). Helpfully, some speakers don't pre-aspirate for t or p, or just don't pre-aspirate at all. Combined with frequent lenition this does make it somewhat hard to get your ear in as a beginner. Your videos always get things across really clearly, and Ian seemed to be getting the hang very quickly too! Great stuff!

[@campbell1446]

I'm learning Scottish Gaelic, too, and as a beginner, I work HARD at making sure I get that preaspiration right.

[@korpw]

Really interesting, as a Norwegian this makes sense.

[@JohnM-cd4ou]

This is an incredible crossover

[@Sta_cotto]

As a half-icelander who never learned the language formally but was always passively exposed from my mother and her family, this explains a lot!

[@malladogg]

I actually love this, the first tip is also my nr 1. Tip to help tourist ask for directions

[@thiudan]

This is the most spectacular and unexpected collaboration on youtube! Two of my favorite youtubers together in Iceland!

[@bjarnivalur6330]

In school, when we were learning the double consonants (tt, kk, pp), it was explained as you do a little hiccup on the sound before it: Ta^kk, Hre^ppur, De^tta. That's how my baby brain understood it.

[@Angitangerina]

My grandfather in MN could speak and read Finnish. He lived to be 102. His parents came from Pori and Alajarvi Finland to the US before he was born in 1911, so he was able to grow up knowing the language along with English. It was so beautiful to watch him speak at the Finnish gatherings, the words just rolled off his tongue effortlessly. CRAZY WORDS!! It seemed impossible to pronounce. Of course when you’re a kid, you don’t have much patience. After hearing the band Heilung from Denmark, it reawakened the old languages in my heart and I phonetically learned how to sing their songs(due to a couple boring years during covid). It was perfect timing. Most songs are in old Norse & Germanic but some Icelandic and others. I’d highly recommend anyone see them live if you get a chance. Beautiful Anyway, after that I started learning some Finnish on Duolingo, I sure wish gramps was here to help me, but I’ll do what I can, just for fun. It’s not easy but it’s a super brain workout and good to challenge yourself. 💪🏼 Also learned some Icelandic. I hope to visit Iceland someday & I appreciate this video. Love the old world(in this new world of course) ♥️ keeping it alive! SKOL From Denver, CO

[@donston5624]

The easiest way to memorize the difference between þ and ð in my opinion is in the names of the letters themselves. Þ is pronounced like the "th" in its name "thorn" whereas ð is prounced like the "th" in its name "eth".

[@tjstarr2960]

That is only good if you know how to pronounce the letter names correctly. A lot of English speakers would intuitively look at a word like "eth" and pronounce it as if it rhymed with "breath". We don't usually have the "eth" sound at the end of English words, unless they are verbs, like the difference between the noun "breath" and the verb "breathe". I do remember that the letter "thorn" is pronounced like it is in the word "thorn". But, nobody seems to remember how "eth" is pronounced. You can either remember it the way you said, by the letter name, and remember that "eth" rhymes with the first syllable in "feather", or you can see that the letter "eth" is just a curly letter d with a line through it. Jackson Crawford called it "an O with an X above it", but really it comes from the letter D. It is easy to hear how the "eth" sound is similar to a D sound, and plenty of English dialects replace the "eth" sound with a D, saying "Dis" instead of "this".

[@toasty862]

to an english speaker with no other context, those two "th" sounds are the same

[@b43xoit]

@@tjstarr2960 > and half the writers on the Internet interchange these at random, as though they never heard them as different.

[@markadams7597]

Wahoo! Iceland!! Show us your journey in, and tell us your impressions of, the Land of Fire and Ice. Great vid, Ty.

[@veldin25]

So much joy whenever I see KZbin channels like this cross paths

[@desert_jin6281]

That double-L reminds me of (ancient) Greek. There double-G goes "N-G" (aggelos -> angelos)

[@dirktermagant5629]

Well, this is a delightful collaboration.

[@lionheart1234]

AWESOME! I love both Ian's and Jackson's channel's and content!

[@minirop]

I never noticed how at 0:44, the groundhog is in sync with the "shtoing" on the music.

[@devonmcintyre9476]

Single words have many so many meanings 😭❤️

[@mysticnovelbro]

Iconic duo

[@shawnhuk]

I find it interesting you promote Grimfrost - I’ve been listening to Johan Hegg in Amon Amarth for 20 years.

[@timbrosius]

I am going to rewatch this several times

[@DeltadronesBr]

Would be awesome to meet Wild Bill Hicock in Iceland!!

[@unlawfulfalafel7634]

The Thorn and Eth play by the same rules in Old English/Anglo-Saxon, really interesting to see how Germanic languages connect, especially older varieties of English to modern languages. Great video, haven't considered learning Icelandic but maybe that'll change soon!

[@blakejon]

My understanding is that þ and ð were used interchangeably in Old English, depending on the fashion of the day. During Alfred the Great's time for example, þ was generally preferred. In any case, they both represented both the voiced and unvoiced dental fricatives. depending on where they were placed in a word.

[@ornsteinsolaire1486]

@@blakejon interesting didn't know that, I'm sure spelling conventions varied throughout the time period and by region. I just remembered being taught about both letters in a course I took in college but it's been a while

[@jic1]

@@blakejon I wouldn't be at all surprised, considering that whole 'J and I are interchangeable' thing didn't really get nailed down in modern English until the 19th century. It stands to reason that the same kind of thing would also have happened with now obsolete letters.

[@osvaldoolmeda3773]

Really love those details in the language!

[@nikolasvankeersbilck7689]

Would love some more videos on modern Icelandic! Your original video on Icelandic pronunciation was a lifesaver when I moved to Iceland.

[@melissahdawn]

I love this!!! I could never understand "th"e difference between đ or þ, or even hear them differently; now, I have something to practice!!!! Thank you.

[@the_zsriverpanda]

If it helps, it's the difference between "either" and "ether." It's always interesting to me that apparently a lot of native English speakers don't realize there's two "th" sounds in their language, whereas for me, who was immensely confused by the distinction between dad and dead, feet and fit, and dock and duck, it was never what I struggled with. lol

[@watchmakerful]

Do you hear the difference between "then" and "thing" in English? "Then" has "ð", "thing" has "þ".

[@melissahdawn]

@@watchmakerful yes, I have heard people say that, but I cannot hear a difference. They feel the same when holding my throat as well, but with practice I can learn to say them different, maybe.

[@watchmakerful]

@@melissahdawn The difference is the same as between "s" and "z". One is voiceless, the other one is voiced.

[@melissahdawn]

@@the_zsriverpanda at university, my roomate coukd not hear any difference between "L" and "R". My best friend called and there was a written message near the phone that said "rianne called and wants you to call her back." My best friend's name is LeAnne pronounced Leeeeee Ahnnnnnn. And I was confused as to who "Rain" was.

[@Gungnir762]

Awesome. Hope you had a wicked good time in Finland.

[@juanchitaro5380]

And I thought I was just one step away from reciting sagas like the old norse. A man can dream.

[@MacDhomnuill]

Two of my favorite thoughtful youtubers in one video!

[@Mute_Nostril_Agony]

Wow! What a crossover... Two of my favourite KZbinrs. Wait til you find out what Welsh speakers do with "ll"

[@solomonkain]

Awesome. What a cool backdrop too.

[@paulaunger3061]

This was lovely. And really interesting - I tried out some of this and now my throat feels odd! Commiserations to the person who fell in the waterfall! LOL!

[@kbjerke]

AWESOME to see Ian here!! Thank you!

[@thevillager8339]

I speak a variation of my local Jædar (Jær) dialect and we do a lot of these in it too. Although the nn->tn is dn and tl is dl. We also do the dn occasionally when there is rn lik kyrnå->kydnå

[@thhseeking]

That helps me watching "Just Icelandic". He has fun sometimes saying "here are some more words for you to learn" - yeah, right :P

[@ericraymond3734]

Two great KZbinrs that KZbin great together!

[@cemreomerayna463]

I said wtf inside my brain when I saw Ian's face suddenly. Great collaboration, I love watching you both!

[@kristjanjonsson7723]

Nice to see Ian basically in my backyard. Lots of forgotten weapons to dig up here 😄

[@kimfleury]

That tip of the touque was perfect.

[@liamgibson8602]

Jackson really gets around huh? Crossing over with Einar Selvik and Gun Jesus

[@bjarkih1977]

Ð/ð is like th in 'the' Þ/þ is like th in 'Thursday' or 'Þór' a simple way to remember the difference :)

[@oldschooljack3479]

A couple of my favorite dudes in the same video. Cool!

[@kapitankrunch3]

excellent video, thank you for the education!

[@alexakalennon]

5 tips, and ten more years to practice. I like these abroad videos. So awesome. Have a good time

[@cuddlestsq2730]

Actually there's at least one dialect in Norway, that of Gudbrandsdal, which does also have the preaspirated plosives. Which just complicates the whole thing about where they came from.

[@sodapop9mm562]

I’m in shock to see Ian on my other favorite KZbin channel. Thanks for such a cool video!

[@matthewkowalski2164]

Crossover of the century for one very specific type of guy

[@Klaymour28]

For the "Thorn" and Eth" letters, I always describe them as "hard" TH and "soft" TH respectfully.

[@laurienator]

The preaspiration is present also in Northern Sami.

[@Kurganic99]

Two of my favorite youtubers together, cool. You two look like brothers.

[@hrafnagu9243]

Iceland is the last place I thought I'd see Ian McCollum. Let alone doing a video with Jackson Crawford. I like it though.

[@YummyNukes]

An unexpected crossover but a welcome one

[@stayhungry1503]

most unexpected crossover ever

[@Fridrik-]

Vatn/Vatnið (water/the water) is of those the strangest thing to teach in Icelandic pronunciation. The reason being that at after the T you push some extra air out of your nose. You can hear Crawford over emphasising it a little to teach it. But then say it like a native when saying Vatnajökull. It’s such a strange physical feeling that it tends to confuse people.

[@victorkreig6089]

Glad you could make it out to Iceland, always a pleasure doctor

[@jdonland]

This is quite a crossover.

[@GrimrDirge]

I never knew how much I needed this crossover

[@pokemon1895]

Wild. Wild finding you two together.

[@nostalgicactuator8448]

the greatest collab ever

[@Jonasinn]

Unbeliveable ! I have been watching your channel for years and enjoying it greatly, and now I open youtube and see that you posted this video yesterday from the town I live in Selfoss. Mind blown :) Love your content, and If you are still in the area you are more then welcome to be in touch and I would love to help you out with anything you need. Lot of cool stuff to see and do

[@coryjorgensen622]

Hugely respect Jackson Crawford, and have some of his books. Needs to work on his Icelandic vowels, though. Good content.

[@matf5593]

Ça là, c’était vraiment clair et facile à comprendre…. 😊merci!