Jeg ville ikke give nøglen til hvem som helst, selv om jeg havde travlt.

Ville is the past form of vil, but in Danish it is also used like English would.

So here jeg ville ikke give ... means something like I wouldn’t give ..., not simply I will not give ....

That fits the rest of the sentence, because selv om jeg havde travlt gives a hypothetical or imagined situation: even if I was in a hurry.

Compare:

• Jeg vil ikke give nøglen ... = I don’t want to / won’t give the key ...
• Jeg ville ikke give nøglen ... = I wouldn’t give the key ...

In some sentences, yes. Ville can mean wanted to or was going to, depending on context.

For example:

• Jeg ville gå hjem can mean I wanted to go home

But in this sentence, the most natural reading is wouldn’t, because of the second clause selv om jeg havde travlt. That clause sets up a concession or hypothetical situation, so I wouldn’t give the key to just anyone, even if I was in a hurry is the best interpretation.

This is because of normal Danish main-clause word order.

In a main clause, the finite verb usually comes in second position. Here:

• Jeg = first element
• ville = finite verb in second position
• ikke = negation, placed after the finite verb

So:

Jeg ville ikke give nøglen ...

This is very typical Danish structure.

A useful comparison:

• Main clause: Jeg ville ikke give den
• Subordinate clause: ... at jeg ikke ville give den

In subordinate clauses, ikke often comes before the finite verb, but in main clauses it usually comes after it.

Nøglen is the definite form of nøgle.

• en nøgle = a key
• nøglen = the key

Danish usually makes nouns definite by adding an ending to the noun rather than using a separate word like the.

So:

• en bog = a book
• bogen = the book

Here nøglen shows that it is a specific key, one that is already known from the situation or context.

Hvem som helst is a fixed expression meaning anyone at all, just anyone, or whoever in a very broad, unrestricted sense.

So:

• til hvem som helst = to just anyone

It has a stronger feeling than just nogen in many contexts. It suggests no selection or no care about who the person is.

Compare:

• nogen = someone / anyone
• hvem som helst = absolutely anyone / just anyone

In this sentence, it emphasizes that the speaker would not hand over the key to an arbitrary person.

Because Danish can express give in two common ways:

• give nogen noget = give someone something
• give noget til nogen = give something to someone

So both patterns exist.

Here the sentence uses:

give nøglen til hvem som helst

That is perfectly natural and corresponds closely to English give the key to just anyone.

You may also hear structures like:

• Jeg gav ham nøglen = I gave him the key

But with a longer phrase like hvem som helst, the til version sounds very natural.

Because at have travlt is a fixed Danish expression meaning to be busy or to be in a hurry.

So:

• jeg har travlt = I am busy / I’m in a hurry
• jeg havde travlt = I was busy / I was in a hurry

This is one of those places where Danish and English use different verbs. English uses be, but Danish uses have.

In this sentence, havde travlt probably means was in a hurry, because that fits the idea of quickly giving a key to someone without being careful.

The basic adjective is travl:

• en travl dag = a busy day

But in the fixed expression have travlt, Danish uses travlt.

So learners often need to memorize:

• travl when describing a noun: en travl mand, en travl uge
• travlt in the expression have travlt: jeg har travlt

This is just the normal idiomatic form. Even though it may feel strange at first, jeg har travlt is the standard way to say I’m busy.

Here selv om means even though or even if.

In this sentence, even if is probably the best English match, because the whole sentence is hypothetical:

I wouldn’t give the key to just anyone, even if I was in a hurry.

You will also see selvom written as one word. Learners should be aware of both spellings.

So:

• selv om / selvom = even though / even if

The exact English translation depends on context.

Because selv om introduces a subordinate clause.

In Danish subordinate clauses, the subject normally comes before the finite verb:

• selv om jeg havde travlt

That is why you get jeg havde, not havde jeg.

The inverted order havde jeg travlt would look like a question or a main-clause pattern, not the normal structure after a subordinating conjunction.

So the pattern is:

• selv om + subject + verb

Example:

• Selv om jeg var træt, arbejdede jeg videre = Even though I was tired, I kept working

It is most naturally understood as hypothetical.

Even though both verbs are in past forms:

• ville
• havde

they do not have to refer to a real past event. Danish, like English, often uses past forms to create distance and express something hypothetical, cautious, or unreal.

So this sentence is not necessarily saying that the speaker actually was in a hurry at some time in the past. It is more like:

Even under that condition, I still wouldn’t do it.

That is why the sentence feels like a general statement about what the speaker would or would not do.