Ég tek eina skóflu af mold og set hana varlega kringum ræturnar.

They are both 1st person singular present tense forms:

• ég tek = I take
• ég set = I put / I set

The dictionary forms are:

• taka = to take
• setja = to put / to set

Icelandic verbs change form depending on person and number, so you usually do not use the dictionary form after a subject like ég.

A couple of useful details:

• taka is irregular, so taka → tek
• setja loses the -ja here: setja → set

So the sentence uses normal finite verb forms, not infinitives.

Because the same subject continues into the second verb.

So:

• Ég tek ... og set ... = I take ... and put ...

This works much like English:

• I take a shovel of soil and put it around the roots.

You could repeat ég for emphasis or clarity in some contexts, but it is not necessary here.

Because skóflu is the direct object of tek, so it appears in the accusative singular.

The noun is:

• skófla = shovel / spade

It is a feminine noun, so both the noun and the word eina have to match that:

• ein = nominative feminine singular
• eina = accusative feminine singular

So:

• eina skóflu = one shovel / one shovelful

In this sentence, it is most naturally understood as one shovel of soil or one shovelful of soil.

Literally, eina means one.

But in real usage, Icelandic often uses einn/ein/eitt where English might naturally say a/an, especially when talking about taking one item or one portion.

So here:

• eina skóflu af mold literally = one shovel of soil
• in smoother English = a shovelful of soil

Using eina can also make the amount feel a bit more concrete: one actual scoop/shovelful.

Here af means of, in the sense of made up of / consisting of / containing.

So:

• skófla af mold = a shovel of soil

This is a very common Icelandic pattern: a container, portion, or measure word followed by af plus the material or substance.

Also, af normally takes the dative case. The noun mold happens to have the same visible form here, so you do not see a case ending change.

So even though the form stays mold, grammatically it is after a preposition that governs dative.

Hana refers back to eina skóflu af mold.

More specifically, the pronoun agrees with the main noun of that phrase, which is skófla:

• skófla is feminine singular
• the accusative singular form of hún is hana

So:

• set hana = put it

This can feel a little strange to English speakers, because in English you may think mainly of soil and expect a neutral it. But Icelandic pronouns follow the grammatical gender of the noun being replaced. Since the phrase is built around skófla, the pronoun is feminine: hana.

Varlega is an adverb, meaning carefully, gently, or with care.

It describes how the action is done:

• set hana varlega = put it carefully / gently

It is related to the adjective varlegur = careful / cautious.

A very common Icelandic pattern is that adjectives can form adverbs with -lega.

So this is a useful model to recognize:

• adjective: varlegur
• adverb: varlega

Kringum means around, and it takes the accusative.

So the noun after it must be in the accusative:

• rót = root
• plural: rætur = roots
• definite plural: ræturnar = the roots

So:

• kringum ræturnar = around the roots

You may also notice the vowel change:

• singular: rót
• plural: rætur

That kind of stem change is common in Icelandic nouns.

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article onto the end of the noun.

So:

• rætur = roots
• ræturnar = the roots

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English. Instead of a separate word like the, Icelandic often uses a suffix.

So in this sentence:

• kringum ræturnar literally looks like around roots-the
• but it simply means around the roots