Engineer Stefán Geir Árnason, brandishing the key ring whose name is the longest word in Icelandic.

Engineer Stefán Geir Árnason, brandishing the key ring whose name is the longest word in Icelandic. Photo/Valgeir Bergmann

The longest word in Icelandic is Vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúrslyklakippuhringurinn. It's a composed word and means the key ring to the tool work shed in the road works of Vaðlaheiði, a mountain road in North Iceland.

The word has often been considered a joke but Morgunblaðið published a photo today of the object in question, the key ring.

Road work in the Vaðlaheiði tunnel will be finished in a month's time and on the Eyjafjörður side of the tunnel are sheds for the workers, including a tool shed.