List of Icelandic Proverbs Sayings

Iceland is a land of rich history and culture, and its proverbs reflect the wisdom and wit of its people. Icelandic proverbs have been passed down through generations, offering insight into life, love, and the human experience. Here are some of the most well-known Icelandic proverbs and sayings:

1. A burnt child learns to avoid the fire.
This proverb reminds us that we often learn best from our mistakes and experiences.

2. Bread on the tail does not run into the mouth.
This saying serves as a cautionary reminder that good fortune doesn't come easily and requires effort.

3. A rescue is better than a bitless horse.
This proverb highlights the value of having a reliable support system and being prepared for challenges.

4. When the time has come, the man has come.
This saying reflects the importance of seizing opportunities when they arise.

5. In loss, one knows who one's friends are.
This proverb speaks to the idea that adversity can reveal true friendships.

6. Heavy tongues, light blessings.
This proverb emphasizes the power of kind and uplifting words.

These proverbs offer a glimpse into the collective wisdom of Icelandic culture and provide valuable lessons that are applicable to people from all walks of life.

All sails do not suit every ship.

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The more renowned woman often has fewer rings.

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A sitting crow starves.

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If the icy snow carries you at midsummer, then we can expect a late spring.

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Everyone gets argr as he gets older.

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Better wise language than well combed hair.

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The revenge that is postponed is not forgotten.

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On thin ice everybody have the same strength.

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If only the wind would turn before I go home, said the woman rowing against the wind.

Icelandic Proverbs List

A man without a book is blind.

One enemy is too many; 100 friends are far too few.

You will not choke on big words and pig fat.

One half our fatherlands is the ocean.

Christ is powerful, but more powerful is destiny.

The sun that melts the wox is the same that hardens the mud.

A bad rower blames the oar.

Every story has two sides and every song has twelve versions.

If one calls in the forest will one get a response.

You will reach your destination even though you travel slowly.

Better to drink the milk than to eat the cow.

God helps those who help themselves.

The twigs are rarely better than the trunk.

Every man likes the smell of his own farts.

A dog bites the stone, not him who throws it.

Character is always corrupted by prosperity.

Iceland is the best land on which the sun shines.

Everyone wants to live long, but no one wants to be called old.

There are seven different kind of weather in one autumn night.

A story is only half told if there is only one side presented.

Dragons often rise up on their tail.

Often does one desire what one does not need.

There men so poor that the only thing they have is money.

People come where people are.

A man yearns for his paradise but it could become his hell.

It is better to suffer in name the truth than being rewarded for lying.

Better shoeless than bookless.

Pissing in your shoes won't keep your feet warm for long.

Fertile is water that runs under lava.

Although he comes and cuts me down, I'll grow next spring.

Tomorrow says the lazy.

Often a troll-woman is under fair skin, and virtue under dark hair.

Gold and green woods.

Hunger, work, and sweat are the best herbs.

She who dances with the chimney sweeper will eventually end up black.

Every honest miller has a thumb of gold.

Trusty as a troll.

A fall bodes a lucky journey from the house but not toward it.

Not much is worse than a troll.

Sin is not perfect until one prides oneself on it.

Two make an army against one.

It is difficult to steal when the boss is a thief.

If you get lost in an Icelandic forest, simply stand up and you will find your way.

No one wants to remember his childhood.

A man's will can be his paradise, but it can also be his hell.

His door already has the hard part of the journey behind him.

Bad birds seldom bring good weather.

Slow and sure.

If you travel for a day, take bread for a week.

Gold glitters in what is thrown away.

No one has mercy by Magnus.

Speak the truth, but keep one hand on the sword.

A system that works is worth golden.

It would be good to have two mouths and speak to yourself with both.

Useless wisdom is double foolishness.

Be straightforward in all your dealing and noble with strangers.

Speak what needs to be said, or stay silenth.

If you wish to know what a man is, make him king.

When your neighbor's wall breaks, your own is in danger.

A fat woman warms the night.

Need is not governed by the law.

Spoken words cannot be taken back.

Least said, soonest mended.

Easily grasped are the crimes of a hog.

Words of insults are futile, the more they fit, the more they are lost.

Strong legs are needed to carry good days.

It is better one time to see things than one hundred times to hear about them.

An offer of friendship to a friend's foe is unbecoming an honorable man.

Need is a bad negotiator.

Wrath often consumes what god gives husbands.

Sweet is the smell from your own ass.

Cultures are born and die, but the cheese is immortal.

A greasy kitchen; a will with not much in it.

Let him who has enough be satisfied.

Necessity teaches naked woman to spin.

Hate not the man, but the weakness. *

Mediocrity is climbing molehills without sweating.

All is not gold that glistereth.

It is better to be a master in a cottage than servant in a castle.

My enemy isn't the one who harms me, but the one who makes me evil.

Talk doesn't plow the field.

He that would hang his dog gives out first that he is mad.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Men do not limp while their legs are the same length.

Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are.

Beware the man who does not drink.

A quarter depends on cultivation.

You can't complain about the sea if you suffer shipwreck for the second time.

He who knows only few things, has little to forget.

The generous and bold have the best lives.

Money makes monkeys of men.

A man too busy to take care of his health is like a farmer too lazy to plant his field.

More flies mean more food.

He who lives without discipline dies without honor.

Blind is a man without a book.

All old sayings have something in them.

Much always longs for more.

He who puts giants to flight rapidly advances.

An unlucky girl may make a good woman.

On the ladder to success there is always somebody on the rung above you and who uses your head to steady himself.

Our good life sure is there for us, unless we learned some bad conduct in our home as children.

If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.

Cattle die, kinsmen die, and so shall you die too. But one thing I know that never dies: the fame of a dead man's deeds.