Demolition weather, and words for obsolete concepts like leaving your child outside to die

In Icelandic known as "útburður", meaning literally that 👆

Góðan og blessaðan daginn!

I am back in Iceland now after 12 days in Fuerteventura where I did little more than lie on a sun lounger and crack Code Word puzzles. Oh, and go out for dinner. Isn’t that just the perfect holiday, when the biggest decision of the day is which restaurant you want to patronize that evening?

There was some crazy weather back here in WindLand while we were gone, a code orange storm coupled with high tides = recipe for disaster. About a block from our house there is a nice little path for strolling along the sea … or, well, there used to be a path, it is completely demolished now, for a long stretch. Here is a photo I nicked from RÚV:

I don’t feel TOO bad for stealing that picture since technically I am part owner of the National Broadcasting Service - RÚV. Also, here is a link to the original.

Yep, all of that debris came out of the sea beyond that breakwater there.

Here is a photo I took this afternoon while walking the dog. The clean-up crews have done a bit of work.

Two men were swept out to sea by a wave from the pier in Akranes, a small village in West Iceland, as were two cars. One of those men was in one of the cars, and sadly is still in critical condition in hospital.

This is not counting a sundry list of other damage: rocks smashing through windows in an office building down near the sea in Grandi so that sea flooded in, the golf course in Seltjarnarnes being covered in rocks and seaweed, and more.

This we know: the forces of nature in Iceland are not to be trifled with.

Read on for this week’s installment from the Little Book of the Icelanders, on more words that have fallen into disuse because of cultural changes, or have gained new meaning because of those changes. I will also have a voice note with pronunciation and such.

Also, I would love to hear from paid subscribers what sort of content you would be interested in getting from me once we wrap up our LB of Icelandic posts. Send me your ideas, or drop them in the comments!