$isochars = "\xFC\xFD\xFF";
$asciichars = "uyy";
$urlfriendly = strtr($actual_string, $isochars, $asciichars);

What struck me was that the character þ (FE in hex) was translated into y. As is correct if you look at how y, in different forms, was used as an abbreviation for the, that and so on in old English – or Anglo-Saxon. Often it is now written “Ye” as in the blog post title. (Yes – the “Y” in the title should be pronounced as “th“.

However, it is a bit odd as the Icelandic language still use the letter frequently. The sound value is more or less the equivalent of the English “th” in this or the.

The major value in SEO friendly urls is the readability. Shouldn’t it be more friendly and natural to translate þ into “th” in SEO friendly urls then?