Iceland is the last place where the old Germanic custom of dynamic patronymics is used. This woman's father is Bjorn, and he will have a different surname such as 'Eriksen' reflecting his own father's name. The Norwegians did this up until a hundred years ago, and any time you meet a person with a static patronymic such as Johnson or Williamson you can hear the echo of our own Anglo-Saxon past.
More to the point of the article, you said,
"you can hear the echo of our own Anglo-Saxon past."
I am concerned that what is going on in Iceland could very well be occuring to us in a handful of years.
Icelandic surnames are gender specific; the woman’s has the suffix `dottir’ (Bjoernsdottir). But if she has a brother, his surname is Bjoernssen.
Anyone know how Ms. Bjoernsdottir’s name would change if she were to marry?
I was going to comment on the “dotter” suffix on her name. Interesting they still use patronymics. It makes genealogy a pain.