Í tollinum spurði starfsmaðurinn hvaðan við værum að koma.

In customs the employee asked where we were coming from.

Breakdown of Í tollinum spurði starfsmaðurinn hvaðan við værum að koma.

• vera: to be
• við: we
• spyrja: to ask
• í: in

Questions & Answers about Í tollinum spurði starfsmaðurinn hvaðan við værum að koma.

Why does the sentence start with Í tollinum instead of the subject?

This is a very common Icelandic word-order pattern.

Icelandic is a V2 language in main clauses, which means the finite verb usually comes in second position. If you put a time/place expression first, the verb still has to stay second.

So:

• Í tollinum spurði starfsmaðurinn ... = At customs, the employee asked ...

Here the first slot is Í tollinum, so the verb spurði comes next, and the subject starfsmaðurinn comes after it.

A more neutral order is also possible:

• Starfsmaðurinn spurði í tollinum ...

But the original sentence emphasizes the setting: at customs.

What does Í tollinum mean exactly, and why is it tollinum?