Ég skipti um skóreim, en skósmiðurinn þarf samt að laga sólann.

Icelandic does not have an indefinite article. So a bare noun like skóreim can mean a shoelace.

By contrast, definiteness is often shown with a suffix:

• skósmiðurinn = the shoemaker
• sólann = the sole (in the accusative)

So Icelandic often expresses a/an with no extra word at all.

Skipta um is a fixed expression meaning to change or replace something.

So:

• Ég skipti um skóreim = I changed/replaced a shoelace

The um is part of the expression. If you remove it, skipta can have other meanings, such as divide, exchange, or appear in other idioms. So here it is best to learn skipta um as a unit.

Skipti is the past tense form of skipta.

In this sentence:

• ég skipti = I changed

The dictionary form is:

• skipta = to change / divide / exchange, depending on context

So the sentence is talking about something the speaker already did.

After skipta um, the noun is in the accusative case.

So skóreim here is accusative singular. The reason it looks unchanged is that for this noun, the nominative and accusative singular are the same in form.

That is very common in Icelandic: a noun can be in a different case even when the spelling does not change.

Skósmiðurinn consists of:

• skósmiður = shoemaker / cobbler
• -inn = the suffixed definite article, meaning the

So:

• skósmiður = a shoemaker
• skósmiðurinn = the shoemaker

Icelandic very often adds the to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

This is a common feature of Icelandic compounds. Sometimes the first part of a compound appears with a linking s, and sometimes it does not.

So you get:

• skóreim = shoelace
• skósmiður = shoemaker

That s is not unusual. Historically it is related to older/genitive forms in many words, but for a learner the safest approach is usually to learn each compound as its own word. The presence of the linking s is not always fully predictable.

The verb þurfa means to need or to have to. After it, Icelandic normally uses að plus the infinitive.

So:

• þarf að laga = needs to fix / needs to repair

Structure:

• þarf = needs
• að laga = to fix

This is very similar to English need to repair.

Samt means something like still, all the same, or anyway, depending on context.

Here it means still:

• the shoelace was changed,
• but despite that, another problem remains.

So samt adds the idea of even so or despite that.

The base form is sóli, which means sole (of a shoe). It is a masculine noun.

In this sentence, sólann is:

• definite: the sole
• accusative singular: because it is the direct object of laga

So:

• sóli = a sole
• sólann = the sole (accusative singular)

This is not the same word as sól (sun), even though they look similar.

This is normal Icelandic main-clause word order. The finite verb usually comes in second position.

In the second clause:

• en = but
• skósmiðurinn = subject
• þarf = finite verb
• samt = adverb
• að laga sólann = infinitive phrase

So the clause follows a regular Icelandic pattern. Nothing unusual is happening here.

In this sentence, en is best translated as but, because the second clause contrasts with the first:

• the speaker changed the shoelace,
• but that did not solve everything.

In some contexts en can be closer to and, but here the contrast makes but the natural translation.