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..... But this most traditional of Icelandic songs is not actually Icelandic at all. It is, in fact, a song from the operetta Das Veilchen vom Montmartre by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán, with the original title ‘Heut’ Nacht hab’ ich geträumt von dir’.

Óðinn Valdimarsson (1937-2011) was a popular singer from Akureyri in North Iceland and turned this German-language Hungarian ditty into an Icelandic classic.

The song really broke though as an Iceland football anthem when Iceland played the Czech Republic in Plzeň back in November 2014. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength and was belted out by a capacity crowd in Reykjavik at the national team’s historic match against Kazakhstan last Sunday.

Óðinn Valdimarsson (1937-2011) was a popular singer from Akureyri