Why was a volcano named eyjafjallajokull?

Answer 1

Often to understand names of places and things, we need to consider the native language, meaning the language in that country or area.

Eyjafjallajökull (also called E15) is the Icelandic name for "Island mountain glacier". Eyjafjallajökull is actually one of the smaller ice caps that covers the cauldron-like volcanic top. The Middle English word ikel, like -icle of English icicle, is combined with the word jökull, meaning glacier or ice cap. Eyjafjöll is made up of two words: eyja (genitive plural of ey, meaning eyot or island), and the plural word fjöll, meaning fells or mountains). Both together literally means: "the mountains of the islands". The word fjalla is the genitive plural of fjöll; the word Eyjafjalla is the genitive form of Eyjafjöll and means: "of the Eyjafjöll". So going piece by piece, the name Eyjafjallajökull means "Islands' Mountains' ice cap".

It's an easy name for an Icelander to say!