Now And Then: The Language Tower

How architecture adds to the language

When explaining why the Icelandic language has remained somewhat unaltered for a millennium it is often said that it is because that for centuries, Icelanders had nothing new to talk about because nothing changed. If you fact-check this statement, you’ll find problems with it, but nonetheless, relatively few new words seem to have entered the language for centuries. This often makes for interesting backstories as to how some words entered the language, the why being that a new thing needed a name.

In a trend of preserving the language in the 20th century, it was often common to come up with new names for new things that aligned with the language. This sometimes worked and sometimes not. A word that was made up out of two old words and stuck is the word for computers: tölva. Made up by combining the word tala ( number) and völva (sorceress). A word less successful is bjúgaldin for banana, which Icelanders commonly call banani because, well, the other word is just damn strange.

So where were we? Yes. Pictured are the so-called Söluturn. This building, designed by Iceland’s first educated architect Rögnvaldur Ólafsson, was one of the many things built in 1907 prior to the visit of King Frederik VIII of Denmark to Iceland. It was originally erected at Lækjartorg, but in 1919 it was moved across the street to Arnarhóll where it stood for 50 years. In 1973 it was again moved, this time to the suburbs where it was rebuilt in 1977 and subsequently moved back to Lækjartorg, where it again remained for a few years, before being moved west on Lækjargata. In 2010 the Best Party under the leadership of comedian and now parliamentarian Jón Gnarr, promised to put the building back at Lækjartorg, where it has stood since.

So back to the Icelandic language. The building, or tower, was commonly called Söluturn (that is, a tower where things are sold). This is simply because that was its common use. When other small convenience or tobacco stores subsequently opened in and around Reykjavík in the 20th century, they were all referred to as a söluturn. Thus this little tower entered the Icelandic language.