Icelandic: A lovers promise : loforð, orð, fyrirheit ?

[Isakichan]

Hello everyone, i want to gift to my beloved a ring with the word "promise" engraved in it.
It will be a ring crafted from an Icelandic coin.
I want to give it to him on his graduation day, because it'll be our "pinky promise", that we will one day go to Iceland
We want to live there but it's another story ! (Thank you Mr COVID)

Anyway, i've find translations of the word "promise", but i can't tell which one is the best for this love/future/travel/life promise.
The jeweler who's gonna craft it can't do the special character "ð" with his machine, that's why i've searched for other words that means the same thing, preferably without any icelandic characters...

Anyway, i want the translation to be perfect, that's why i'm asking here ! Hope you can help me
Thank you !

 

[Segorian]

There are three words that you could reasonably use: loforð, heit and fyrirheit. (It is true that orð can also mean ‘promise’, but only in specific contexts, very similar to the English usage in phrases such as “I give you my word” or “He broke his word”.)

The usage of these three words is as follows:

• loforð is the usual word for ‘a promise’ and can be used in most contexts
• heit is best translated as ‘vow’ or ‘solemn promise’; it is a more formal word, especially in the modern language
• fyrirheit is more literary than loforð, but less formal than heit; it is used especially about positive events that are expected to come about

Based on this, fyrirheit is the word that I would recommend. Below an example taken from a relatively recent newspaper article:

Mikið fannfergi síðustu daga gefur fyrirheit um góðan skíðavetur.​

« La neige est tombée en abondance ces derniers jours et nous donne la promesse d'une belle saison de ski. »​

 

[Isakichan]

Thank you very much for your answer !

I see this ring more as a love vow/promise of love, happiness and success like "I make you the promise, with this ring, that we will make our dream to live there come true" than a foreseing thing, so heit seems better, don't you think ?

 

[Segorian]

I see this ring more as a love vow/promise of love, happiness and success like "I make you the promise, with this ring, that we will make our dream to live there come true" than a foreseing thing, so heit seems better, don't you think ?

Yes, in that case heit might be the best choice. For example, hjúskaparheit means ‘wedding vow(s)’. (The nominative singular and plural forms of heit are the same.)

 

[Isakichan]

Thank you again, it's really nice of you to take the time to answer

Okay i'll go with this one then.

Again, a big THANK YOU !