Letter from Iceland #92
Little Book of Icelandic "words for snow" edition
Halló!
Today’s LB of Icelandic section is about snow! It is open to all … except for the sound file (wherein I read this post out loud, including the Icelandic words)—which is reserved for paid subscribers. ❄️
Words for snow
(From The Little Book of Icelandic)
Languages, as we have established, reflect the daily conditions and realities of the cultures that use them. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the Icelanders have a whole slew of words to describe certain weather, especially if it involves wind and snow. Being specific about such things was vitally important in the old days when folks had to travel vast distances on foot in all kinds of weather, and their survival depended on how well they were able to assess conditions.
A cursory look at Icelandic words used to describe snow turns up at least sixty. These include terms for freshly-fallen snow (mjöll), half-melted snow (krap), slushy snow (slabb), deep snow (kafald), snow where there is a frozen layer on top (skari), and an expanse of snow that is hard and frozen (hjarn). Snow showers have their own name (él), as do snow showers that are so thick that it becomes dark at the same time (moldél). Intermittent snowfall has a name (snjógangur), as does snowfall with either hail or sleet mixed in (snjóhraglandi). Snow with wind is clearly defined (hríð), as are the particular variables of that type of snowfall - wet snow with wind (blotahríð), light snow with wind (lenjuhríð), much snow with wind (kaskahríð). Snow accompanied by storm, meanwhile, has a whole separate name (bylur), and if it is so thick that you can hardly see in front of you there is a name for it (blindbylur or moldbylur). Drifting snow has a name (skafrenningur), as does drifting snow in light wind (fjúk) and drifting snow in heavy wind (skafbylur).
My personal favourite snow-related word is hundslappadrífa, which literally translates as “dog-paw snowfall”. This is the name used for big, wet flakes of snow that drift straight down to the ground when there is no wind and, as it happens, look a lot like the paws of a dog.
Meanwhile, anyone who has been to Iceland will have noticed that the wind is pretty much constant, and often relentless. Small wonder then that Icelandic has over 100 words for wind and windy conditions. These range from words for a light and gentle breeze (gola) to a slightly stronger breeze (andvari) to a fresh breeze (kaldi) to a strong breeze (strekkingur) to storm (stormur) to another word for storm (óveður) to another word for storm (mannskaðaveður - literally “man-harming weather”) to another word for storm (hundaveður - literally “dog weather” - why I do not know, but presumably because even the dogs wouldn’t be set out in it), to rainstorm (slagveður), to violent storm (ofsaveður), to another word for violent storm (skakviðri), to another word for violent storm (galdraveður - literally “sorcery storm” - because surely some evil sorcerer must have conjured it up), to another word for violent storm (músarbylur - literally “mouse storm” - it’s a long story but also has to do with sorcery)... I could go on (and on), but I trust that you get the picture.
To hear me read the above, please click on the audio below.
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