Fjall

Fjall is a term used in Icelandic and other North Germanic languages to denote a mountain or large hill. In Icelandic, fjall is a common noun for elevated rocky terrain and is a frequent element in place names and landscape descriptions. Cognate forms appear in Swedish fjäll, Norwegian fjell, and Danish fjeld, reflecting a shared North Germanic heritage for elevated landforms. The English fell is a well-known cognate in northern English dialects, derived from the same root and used to describe hills or mountains.

Geographically, fjäll and fjell generally denote highland landscapes that may consist of jagged peaks, scree, and bare rock, often in northern or high-latitude regions. In Sweden, fjäll commonly describes a treeless highland area above the tree line, or a mountain range; in Icelandic usage, fjall typically names individual mountains or prominent peaks and is also found in compounds describing mountainous terrain.

In use, the term appears in toponyms and outdoor literature across the Nordic world and serves as a linguistic marker for prominent elevations. Its distribution illustrates how North Germanic languages classify mountainous terrain, with regional nuances in landscape type and terminology.

Related terms: fjäll (Swedish), fjell (Norwegian), fjeld (Danish), fell (English).