Eldiviðurinn er hér.

It is the noun eldiviður, meaning firewood, plus the definite ending -inn, so eldiviðurinn means the firewood.

A useful thing to notice is that Icelandic often puts the onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word before it.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as a suffix.

So instead of:

• the firewood

Icelandic normally says:

• eldiviðurinn

This is very common in Icelandic. English uses a separate article, but Icelandic often builds definiteness directly into the noun.

It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.

In Eldiviðurinn er hér, the subject is the firewood, and the verb is is, so nominative is the expected case.

Er means is. It is the present tense, third-person singular form of the verb vera, meaning to be.

So:

• ég er = I am
• þú ert = you are
• hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is

In this sentence, eldiiviðurinn is treated as singular, so er is the correct form.

Hér means here.

It refers to location, not motion. So it answers where something is, not where something is going.

In this sentence:

• Eldiviðurinn er hér = The firewood is here

If you are learning location words, it helps to remember that hér is about being in a place.

Yes. Hér er eldiviðurinn is also a perfectly natural Icelandic sentence.

The difference is mainly one of focus or emphasis:

• Eldiviðurinn er hér puts the subject first: The firewood is here
• Hér er eldiviðurinn puts here first: Here is the firewood or The firewood is here

Both are grammatical. Icelandic word order can shift more than English word order, especially for emphasis or style.

Because this sentence is not using an existential pattern like English there is. It is simply a normal sentence with:

• subject: eldiviðurinn
• verb: er
• adverb of place: hér

So the structure is literally:

• The firewood is here

If you say Hér er eldiviðurinn, that may sound a bit more like English Here is the firewood, but it still uses the ordinary verb to be.

It is singular here.

Even though English firewood is usually an uncountable noun, Icelandic commonly uses eldiviður as a singular noun for firewood as a substance or supply. So eldiviðurinn er hér means the firewood is here, referring to the firewood as a whole.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

EL-di-vi-thu-rinn er hyer

A few helpful points:

• Stress is on the first syllable of eldiviðurinn
• ð is like the th in this
• é in hér sounds roughly like ye in yes, but longer
• The r is typically rolled or tapped

This is only an approximation, but it is a good start.

Yes, it is a compound noun. Icelandic forms many everyday words by combining smaller elements into one word.

For a learner, the important point is that eldiviður functions as one vocabulary item meaning firewood, and then the definite ending is added to give eldiiviðurinn.

So when you see a long Icelandic word, it is often worth asking whether it is:

• a base noun
• plus a definite ending
• or a compound made from smaller parts

That habit can make Icelandic much easier to read.