Íslenzka.net ~ An Icelandic Journey

There are several Icelandic words for “head”, i.e. the thing sitting on your shoulders. Which word you use depends on what you are doing with your head at that particular time. Here are a few examples you may encounter 🙂

að hrista höfuðið – to shake your head, especially in a side to side motion, indicating “no”.

að hrista – to shake present past ég hristi hristi þú hristir hristir það hristir hristi við hristum hristum þið hristið hristuð þau hrista hristu

höfuð (n) – head singular plural nom höfuð höfuð acc höfuð höfuð dat höfði höfðum gen höfuðs höfða

Hann spurði hana hvort hún vildi fara, en hún hristi höfuðið.
He asked her if she wanted to go, but she shook her head.

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að kinka kolli – to nod your head, indicating assent, saying “yes”.

að kinka – to nod present past ég kinka kinkaði þú kinkar kinkaðir það kinkar kinkaði við kinkum kinkuðum þið kinkið kinkuðuð þau kinka kinkuðu

kollur (m) – head singular plural nom kollur kollar acc koll kolla dat kolli kollum gen kolls kolla

The verb kinka takes the dative case:

“Er allt í lagi?” Hann svaraði ekki, en kinkaði kolli.
“Is everything all right?” He didn’t answer, but nodded his head.

Other than the general meaning of head, kollur can more specifically refer to the top or crown of the head.

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Another word for head is haus. I think it’s used more when talking about animals’ heads, but there are many expressions that use it. Most relevant to this post would be

að hengja haus – to hang your head (in shame, presumably)

að hengja – to hang present past ég hengi hengdi þú hengir hengdir það hengir hengdi við hengjum hengdum þið hengið hengduð þau hengja hengdu

haus (m) – head singular plural nom haus hausar acc haus hausa dat haus hausum gen hauss hausa

Engin ástæða að hengja haus. – No reason to hang your head.

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Another “head” word is one I just recently came upon, as part of the police blotter. It was reported that someone headbutted a taxi driver. If you should ever need to report something similar to the police, the correct verb would be skalla 🙂

Maðurinn skallaði leigubílstjórann. – The man headbutted the taxi driver.

að skalla – to headbutt present past ég skalla skallaði þú skallar skallaðir það skallar skallaði við sköllum skölluðum þið skallið skölluðuð þau skalla skölluðu

skalli (m) – head (crown) singular plural nom skalli skallar acc skalla skalla dat skalla sköllum gen skalla skalla

The related noun is skalli, which can refer to the crown of your head, as well as being the word for baldness.

Hope this helps you recognize a few of the more common phrases involving the words for “head” 🙂