Fjallkonan

June 17th is the Icelandic National Holiday, when Iceland’s independence from Denmark is celebrated. The date is actually the birthday of Jón Sigurðsson, who was an important part of the independence movement in the 19th century. This Vísir article tells of some of the events going on for the big celebration 🙂

The image to the left is the Lady of the Mountain (Fjallkonan), a personification in female form of Iceland. A woman in traditional Icelandic dress portraying the Fjallkona typically gives a speech or reads a poem on June 17th as part of the Þjóðhátíðardagur celebrations.

Prýðileg veðurspá fyrir 17. júní
Splendid forecast for June 17th

Þjóðhátíðardagur Íslendinga, 17 júní, verður haldin hátíðlegur á morgun. Fjölbreytt dagskrá verður um land allt í tilefni dagsins og veðrið lítur prýðilega út.

The Icelandic National Holiday, June 17th, will be celebrated festively tomorrow. There is a wide variety of events scheduled throughout the country in honor of the day, and the weather is looking splendid.

prýði·legur adj           splendid, excellent
há·tíð f                  holiday, festival
fjöl·breyttur adj         varied, many-sided
í tilefni (af)            on the occasion of

Það verður af nógu að taka á höfuðborgarsvæðinu á morgun eins og venjulega á þessum hátíðisdegi. Hátíðardagskrá á vegum Alþingins og Forsætisráðuneytisins verður sett á Austurvelli klukkan ellefu. Þar mun Ólafur Raganar Grímsson leggja blómsveig frá þjóðinni að minnisvarða Jóns Sigurðssonar.

There should be plenty to take in around the capital area tomorrow as usual on this holiday. The program on the part of the Althing and President will take place at Austurvöllur at 11am. There Olafur Ragnar Grimsson will lay a wreath on behalf of the nation at the memorial of Jon Sigurdsson.

ráðu·neyti n              ministry, department
blóm·sveigur m            wreath, garland
minnis·varði m            monument, memorial

Þá fara tvær skrúðgöngur af stað klukkan eitt, ein frá Hlemmi og önnur frá hagatorgi. Eftir það hefst fjölbreytt dagskrá í Hljómskólagarðinum, á Arnarhóli og í Hörpu þar sem allir ættu að finna eitthvað við sitt hæfi. Seinni partinn verður haldið harmonikkuball í Ráðhúsinu og dansleikur á Ingólfstorgi auk fjölda tónleika um allan bæ.

Then two parade will begin at 1pm; one from Hlemmur and the other from Hagatorg. After that begins a diverse series of programs at Hljómskálagarðurinn, Arnarhóll and Harpa, where there should be something to everyone’s liking. Later in the afternoon will be an accordion ball at City Hall, and a dance at Ingólfstorg in addition to many other concerts throughout the city.

I’m not sure about the “accordion ball”, that’s the closest word I could find, but it might mean something else 🙂

skrúð/ganga f             procession, parade
hæfi n                    taste, liking
harmónika f               accordion

Veðrið lítur ágætlega út, en það verður skýjað og þurrt á suður og vesturlandi um hádegisleytið og hiti í kringum 12 stig. Það mun þó þykkna upp þegar líður á kvöldið og góðar líkur eru á skúrum hér og þar. Það verður hlýjast fyrir norðan, en þar getur fólk búist við 16 stiga hita.

The weather is looking spectacular, but it may be cloudy and dry in the south and west for the holiday, with temperatures around 12 degrees. It may become overcast getting on towards evening with a good chance of the shower here and there. Warming should occur in the north, where a temperature of 16 degrees can be expected.

The verb að þykkna means to thicken, but in the phrase þykkna upp it takes on the meaning of the sky becoming overcast.

If you are from the U.S. like me, keep in mind that temperature is in Celsius, so it’s actually going to be a pretty nice day when they say 12 degrees 🙂

skýjaður adj              cloudy
þurr adj                  dry
þykkn/a v (-aði)          thicken
skúr f                    rain shower
hlýj/a v (dat)            warm