Icelandic: Jafnvel Kristján er að keyra í hlað!

[gramster]

The above sentence appeared in the following context:

"Sigga og Rafn eru á meðal mannfjöldans. Þau standa nálægt borði og eru að tala. Lára gengur upp að þeim. Á leiðinni lítur Lára í kringum sig. Allir eru mættir – vinir Láru, ættingjar hennar, lögreglan, og sjálfboðaliðar úr Reykjavík. Jafnvel Kristján er að keyra í hlað!"

From Richards, Olly. Short Stories in Icelandic for Beginners: Read for pleasure at your level, expand your vocabulary and learn Icelandic the fun way! (Teach Yourself) (p. 183). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition.

Although this appears to translate into English as something like "Even Kristján is driving in a yard", given the context, it just sounds like there's something going on idiomatically with "í hlað". In the English version of the story, the same location in the story has, "Even Craig is just driving up!"

[From Richards, Olly. Short Stories in English for Beginners: Read for pleasure at your level, expand your vocabulary and learn English the fun way! (Teach Yourself) (p. 168). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition.]

My question here is about whether "í hlað" is some sort of idiom, what it means, how it's used, etc.

Thanks!

 

[Segorian]

My question here is about whether "í hlað" is some sort of idiom, what it means, how it's used, etc.

Yes, it is an idiom, and the meaning is ‘up to the house’. The word hlað is related to hlaða, ‘to stack’, and traditionally has the meaning of ‘pavement or levelled area in front of a farmhouse’. The phrase í hlað refers to the movement of someone arriving at or into that area. A famous poem begins with the line “Þú komst í hlaðið á hvítum hesti”.

Today, the word is frequently used both in this phrase and in the related á hlaðinu, ‘in front of the house’, as in the newspaper clip below.