Icelandic has barely changed in a thousand years. Modern Icelanders can read the medieval sagas written in the 13th century with roughly the same ease that English speakers read Shakespeare, and the sagas are 400 years older than Shakespeare. This linguistic conservatism is deliberate: Iceland has an official language committee that creates new Icelandic words for modern concepts rather than borrowing from English. “Computer” is “tolva” (a combination of the words for “number” and “prophetess”). “Telephone” is “simi” (from an old word meaning “thread”). “Podcast” is “hladbod.” This means that when you translate something into Icelandic, you are entering a language that has consciously preserved its identity against the tide of globalisation. Roughly 370,000 people speak Icelandic, almost all of them in Iceland itself. If you are planning a trip to Reykjavik, driving the Ring Road, chasing the northern lights, doing business with Icelandic companies in energy, fishing, or tourism, or studying one of the most fascinating Germanic languages, this page serves as your Icelandic translator.
Enter your text, choose Icelandic, and go. Copy the output with its special characters intact, click Listen for pronunciation, or save the MP3.
While most languages absorb English words for new technology (computer, internet, podcast, email, smartphone), Icelandic invents its own terms from Old Norse roots. This practice, called “language purism,” is supported by the Icelandic Language Institute and is a matter of national pride. As a result, an Icelandic translation of a tech-related text will contain words that look nothing like their English originals but are perfectly understood by every Icelander. The engine knows these neologisms and produces output that uses standard Icelandic vocabulary rather than English loanwords.
Icelandic retains grammatical features that other Germanic languages shed centuries ago. It has four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive), three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), and strong vs weak noun and adjective declensions. Verbs conjugate for person, number, tense, and mood, and there is an active middle voice that other Nordic languages have simplified or lost. If you know German or Latin, some of these features will feel familiar but more elaborate. If you only know English, the grammar will seem extremely dense. The engine handles all of this automatically: you type in English, and it produces grammatically correct Icelandic.
Icelandic has letters that do not exist in English: thorn (th, an unvoiced “th” sound), eth (d with a stroke, a voiced “th” sound), and several accented vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y with acute accents, plus o with umlaut). The double “ll” is pronounced as a “tl” sound, which surprises everyone. “Eyjafjallajokull” (the volcano that grounded European flights in 2010) is famously difficult for non-Icelanders to pronounce.
After the conversion, click Listen to hear how your text actually sounds. The thorns, eths, double-ll sounds, and distinctive vowels are all captured in the audio. Download the MP3 and practice. Icelandic pronunciation resources are extremely limited online (370,000 speakers means a very small market for learning materials), so the downloadable audio on this page is a genuinely rare and valuable resource. An accurate output with audio included is hard to find anywhere else for free, and for a language this phonetically unusual, audio is not a luxury; it is a requirement.
Iceland is one of the most visually dramatic countries on Earth: active volcanoes, enormous glaciers, geysers, black sand beaches, midnight sun in summer, and northern lights in winter. Reykjavik is the world is most northerly capital and has a thriving arts, music (Bjork, Sigur Ros, Of Monsters and Men), culinary, and design scene that punches far above its population weight. The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, the Golden Circle route (Thingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss), and the Ring Road that circles the entire island are bucket-list travel experiences that draw visitors from around the world.
Icelanders are proud of their literary heritage. The medieval sagas, written in the 13th century, are considered some of the greatest works of European literature. Modern Iceland has one of the highest rates of book publishing per capita in the world. The language is central to national identity in a way that few other countries can match.
Travellers visiting Iceland use this page for signs, menus (Icelandic food includes hakarl, fermented shark that is an acquired taste; hangikjot, smoked lamb; and incredibly fresh seafood from the North Atlantic), tours, and daily interactions. While most Icelanders speak excellent English, using even a few Icelandic words earns genuine warmth and sometimes a fascinating conversation about the language itself, since Icelanders are deeply proud of their linguistic heritage and happy to discuss it with interested visitors. Business professionals in geothermal energy, fishing, aluminium smelting, tourism, financial services, and the growing Icelandic tech startup scene working with Icelandic companies use it for communication and correspondence. Students of Old Norse, Viking history, medieval literature, or Germanic linguistics use it for study and reading practice. If you want to translate English into Icelandic with pronunciation audio, this is the place.
For dependable English to Icelandic output with rare and valuable pronunciation audio you can save, this page delivers both.
Yes. The text-to-speech engine handles Icelandic pronunciation including difficult place names. Download the MP3.
The engine knows standard Icelandic vocabulary including coined words like tolva (computer) and simi (telephone).
The engine handles Modern Icelandic. Old Norse texts use some archaic forms that may not process perfectly, though many words remain recognisable.
Both handled correctly. Thorn represents unvoiced th; eth represents voiced th. They are essential Icelandic letters.
Yes. Icelandic pronunciation resources are extremely rare for a language with 370,000 speakers, making this feature genuinely exceptional.
Going the other way? Use Icelandic to English. Popular directions include English to Hindi, English to Italian, English to Russian and English to Turkish. For any other language, open the free online translator. For contracts and official documents, see our professional translation service.