Icelandic

Icelandic is one of the most remarkable languages in the world for what it preserves. The North Germanic tongue spoken by around 370,000 people in Iceland has changed less over the past thousand years than almost any other European language, which means that a modern Icelander can read the medieval sagas in the original with relatively little difficulty. Studying Icelandic at university is therefore both a linguistic and a literary and cultural undertaking: you are learning a living language and, in doing so, gaining access to one of the richest bodies of medieval narrative literature in existence.

At University College London, one of the world's foremost centres for Scandinavian and Viking studies, this four-year degree gives you the time to build genuine proficiency in Icelandic alongside a deep engagement with Old Norse literature, saga studies, and the broader cultural history of the North Atlantic world. You will develop reading, writing, and spoken competence in modern Icelandic while also studying Old Norse texts in their original form. The four-year duration of the programme reflects the depth of linguistic and literary material covered, and the typical entry tariff of 168 points indicates the level of academic preparation expected.

UCL's strong connections with Scandinavian institutions and researchers make this one of the most serious environments in which to pursue this relatively rare specialism.

Graduates with Icelandic often pursue careers in academia, translation, and publishing, or in roles that draw on Scandinavian cultural and linguistic expertise. The combination of a rare language specialism and the analytical skills developed through literary and linguistic study is attractive to employers in research, heritage, and the cultural sector. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in Old Norse, medieval studies, Scandinavian studies, or linguistics.

For those drawn to literature, history, and language learning at its most demanding and most rewarding, this programme offers an exceptional intellectual experience.