Names for Iceland

There are numerous different names for Iceland, which have over the years appeared in poetry or literature.

[edit] The names of Iceland

Many names have been used to refer to Iceland in the Icelandic tongue. These names include colloquial, formal, and poetic forms:

Eylenda, fem.—island, that is to say Iceland

Stephan G. Stephansson

Fjarst í eilífðar útsæ

vakir eylendan þín.

Far in the eternal yonder sea

your island wakes.
Fjalladrottning, fem.—queen of the mountain or Iceland
Fjallkonan, fem. with definite article—lady of the mountain, a figure representing Iceland
Frón, neu.—Iceland

Heima á Fróni.
Garðarshólmi, masc.—Iceland, named after Gardar Svavarsson
Hrímey, fem.
Hrímgrund, fem.
Hrímland, neu.—(the book Crymogaea occasionally uses “Hrímland”)^[1]
Ísafold, neu.
Ísaland, neu.

...og flykkjast heim að fögru landi ísa.
Ísland - Iceland's most common name
Jökulmær, fem.—Young woman of the glacier, Iceland
Klakinn, masc—literally the iceberg
Lýðveldið Ísland - the Republic of Iceland
Norðurey, fem.— literally meaning "northern island", used in jest in the Westman Islands since Iceland is north of them
Skerið, neu-literally the skerry
Snjóland, neu.—Snowland
Snæland, neu.—the name that the Viking Naddoddr reputedly gave to Iceland in the 9th century meaning "snow land"
Thule, neu.—some scholars claim Iceland was the land of Thule. ^[2]
Týli, neu.—Thule
Þyli, neu.—Thule

Icelanders also have their own nickname for themselves, Frónbúi (literally meaning "a habitant of Frón").

Iceland has prominently been called by three names in Latin:

^ Ræður og greinar < Ráðherra < Forsætisráðuneyti
^ Strabo, Geographica, book 2, chapter 5, start of paragraph 8: Ὁ μὲν οὖν Μασσαλιώτης Πυθέας τὰ περὶ Θούλην τὴν βορειοτάτην τῶν Βρεττανίδων ὕστατα λέγει, παρ' οἷς ὁ αὐτός ἐστι τῷ ἀρκτικῷ ὁ θερινὸς τροπικὸς κύκλος· "Pytheas of Massalia therefore chooses the furthest regions around Thule, [which is] the most northern of the lands around Britain, around which the "summer turning circle" [= the line of celestial latitude where the sun turns at midsummer] is the same as the Arctic Circle.", which may refer to the sun being circumpolar at midsummer.
Strabo 1.4.2: ἥν φησι Πυθέας ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς Βρεττανικῆς ἓξ ἡμερῶν πλοῦν ἀπέχειν πρὸς ἄρκτον, ἐγγὺς δ᾽ εἶναι τῆς πεπηγυίας θαλάττης : "[Thule] which Pytheas says is a six days’ sail north of Britain, and is near the frozen sea."