Útsýnið frá fjallinu er svo fallegt að við setjumst í smástund og tökum myndir.

The base noun is útsýni, a neuter noun meaning view or scenery. The ending -ið is the suffixed definite article, so útsýnið means the view.

This is very common in Icelandic: instead of a separate word like English the, Icelandic often adds the article onto the end of the noun.

• útsýni = a view / view
• útsýnið = the view

Because frá takes the dative case in Icelandic. The noun fjall means mountain, and its definite singular dative form is fjallinu.

So:

• fjall = mountain
• fjallið = the mountain
• frá fjallinu = from the mountain

This phrase tells you where the view is from: the view from the mountain.

Adjectives in Icelandic agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. Here the noun is útsýnið, which is neuter singular, so the adjective also has to be neuter singular:

• masculine: fallegur
• feminine: falleg
• neuter: fallegt

So Útsýnið ... er fallegt means The view ... is beautiful.

This is a very common structure meaning so ... that.

So:

• svo fallegt að ... = so beautiful that ...

It introduces a result:

• the view is so beautiful
• that we sit down for a while and take pictures

In other contexts, svo can mean things like so, thus, or like that, but in this pattern svo ... að is best understood as so ... that.

No. Here að is a conjunction meaning that.

You can tell because it is followed by a full clause:

• að við setjumst í smástund og tökum myndir

If að were the infinitive marker, it would be followed by an infinitive verb, like:

• að taka myndir = to take pictures

So in this sentence, að means that, not to.

Setjumst comes from the verb setjast, which means to sit down.

The -st ending is part of a middle/reflexive-type verb form that is very common in Icelandic. In this case, setjast is the normal verb for sit down.

So:

• setja = set, place
• setjast = sit down
• við setjumst = we sit down

It does not mean we set here. It means we seat ourselves / we sit down.

This is an important distinction:

• sitja / sitjum = to be sitting
• setjast / setjumst = to sit down

So við sitjum means we are sitting, while við setjumst means we sit down.

In this sentence, setjumst makes sense because the beautiful view causes a new action: we decide to sit down for a while.

Í smástund means for a little while or for a moment.

The noun smástund means a short while or a brief moment, and the whole expression is a common Icelandic way to say that something lasts for a short time.

So:

• setjumst í smástund = sit down for a little while

It is best learned as a fixed expression rather than translated too literally word by word.

Because Icelandic very often forms compound words.

Here:

• smá = small, little
• stund = while, moment

Together they make:

• smástund = a short while

Compound nouns are extremely common in Icelandic, much more so than in English.

Tökum is the present-tense first person plural of taka, meaning take.

Myndir is the direct object, so it is in the accusative plural. The singular noun is mynd meaning picture or photo.

So:

• mynd = picture
• myndir = pictures
• tökum myndir = take pictures

There is no definite article here, so it means take pictures, not specifically take the pictures.

After að, Icelandic has a subordinate clause. In subordinate clauses, the word order is often more straightforward than in main-clause verb-second patterns.

So:

• að við setjumst ... = that we sit down ...

The subject við comes before the verb setjumst. Then og tökum myndir adds a second verb with the same subject:

• við setjumst ... og tökum myndir
• we sit down ... and take pictures

So the sentence has one subject, við, controlling both verbs.

A few things may stand out to an English speaker:

• ú and ý are long vowel letters
• ð is like the th in this, not the th in thin
• ll in fjallinu is not pronounced exactly like English ll

A rough learner-friendly guide:

• útsýnið ≈ OOT-see-nith or OOT-see-nidh
• fjallinu is harder, but you can start with something like fyat-li-nu or fyad-li-nu, depending on accent and level of precision

Pronunciation varies by dialect and phonetic environment, but the main point is that Icelandic spelling is systematic, and these sounds become easier once you learn the regular sound patterns.