No Icelandic to be seen at Geysir

Nearly all signs at the entrance to Geysir in Haukadal are in English, with no Icelandic in sight, according to Bragi Þór Valsson, who visited the site over the weekend.

Bragi says it is strange that the signs are only in English and that no Icelandic is visible. While it is natural to have signage in English, he believes it should not be exclusively so.

“You don’t expect this. If you go to the Czech Republic, you expect to see some Czech,” Valsson told mbl.is . He posted about the issue in the Málspjall Facebook group to draw attention to it.

“I just got back from France, where they refuse to speak a single word of English, and it’s an interesting precedent — they take it to the other extreme. This feels like some sort of inferiority complex in Iceland, as if tourists want everything in English,” Valsson said.

The only Icelandic he noticed on site was a sign from Parka stating in large letters “ Greiðsluskylda ” (“Payment Required”) for the car park.

Fine in some places

He said that in some other parts of the country, signage is fine, citing Brúarhlöð as an example.

“There, the information signs are in three languages, with Icelandic first. So, in that region, things are fine in some places, but Geysir is of course a location everyone visits.”

The site’s managers could not be reached for comment yesterday.