Örnefnaleitin — rebuild Icelandic place names
Örnefnaleitin means "the place-name hunt". Five real Icelandic place names have been split in two. Put them back together and pick up a small fact about each place on the way.
How to play
- Tap a name fragment in the left column.
- Tap the piece in the right column that completes it.
- A correct pair locks in place and shows you a fact about the place.
- A wrong pair shakes, and you try again. Five names a day.
Why place names are worth learning
Icelandic place names are built from ordinary words, which is why they look long but read easily once you know the parts. A fjörður is a fjord, a vík is a small bay (Reykjavík is "smoky bay"), a fell or fjall is a mountain, a jökull is a glacier, a foss is a waterfall. Play this for a week and the road signs on the ring road start talking to you.
Frequently asked questions
- Are the place names in Örnefnaleitin real?
- Yes, all of them are real Icelandic places, from fjords and glaciers to farms and headlands. The facts shown with each correct pair were written for Kokomo.
- Do I need Icelandic to play Örnefnaleitin?
- It helps, but pattern recognition carries you far: common endings like -fjörður, -vík, -fell and -jökull repeat, and learning them is half the point of the game.
- How many place names are there per day?
- Five names a day, split in half. Pair all five and the round is complete. A new set appears every day on kokomo.is.