Á næstu hátíð vil ég sitja nær sviðinu, því ég heyrði trommarann ekki vel þar sem við sátum í salnum.

Because Icelandic usually follows the verb-second rule in main clauses.

The sentence begins with Á næstu hátíð. When something other than the subject comes first, the finite verb usually comes next:

• Á næstu hátíð vil ég sitja...
• literally: At the next festival want I to sit...

If the sentence started with the subject, then you would get:

• Ég vil sitja nær sviðinu.

Both are normal; the difference is just word order caused by what comes first.

Here á means something like at / on / during, and in this kind of time-or-event expression it takes the dative.

So:

• á hátíð = at a festival
• á næstu hátíð = at the next festival

The adjective næstu is the weak dative singular feminine form of næsti because next is being used in a definite sense: the next festival.

A useful comparison:

• á borðið = onto the table (accusative, movement)
• á borðinu = on the table (dative, location)

Here it is not movement onto something, but being at an event/time, so dative makes sense.

In Icelandic, the is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

In this sentence:

• sviðinu = the stage (dative)
• trommarann = the drummer (accusative)
• salnum = the hall (dative)

So instead of a separate word like English the, Icelandic often uses a suffix.

Nær is usually nearer / closer.

So:

• nálægt sviðinu = near the stage
• nær sviðinu = nearer / closer to the stage

In this sentence, the comparison is understood from context: the speaker wants to sit closer than before.

Also, nær takes the dative, which is why it is:

• sviðinu and not sviðið

Because nær governs the dative case here.

So the noun svið appears in dative definite form:

• sviðið = the stage (nominative/accusative)
• sviðinu = to/at the stage (dative)

Since the sentence says nær sviðinu, the dative form is needed.

Because it talks about:

• a present wish about the future: vil ég sitja = I want to sit
• based on a past experience: ég heyrði / við sátum = I heard / we sat

So the timeline is:

1. In the past, they sat somewhere and the speaker did not hear well.
2. Now, the speaker says what they want for the next festival.

That mixture is completely natural.

Because trommarann is the direct object of heyrði.

The verb heyra takes an accusative object:

• trommari = drummer
• trommarann = the drummer (accusative singular)

So:

• Ég heyrði trommarann = I heard the drummer

The ending shows both:

• definite meaning: the drummer
• accusative case: because it is the object of the verb

Both are possible, but they are slightly different in feel.

• ekki vel = not well
• illa = badly

So:

• Ég heyrði trommarann ekki vel = I didn’t hear the drummer well
• Ég heyrði trommarann illa = I heard the drummer badly

The version with ekki vel is very natural and often feels a bit more neutral or literal.

They do different jobs here.

• því introduces the main reason:

  • ..., því ég heyrði trommarann ekki vel...
  • ..., because I didn’t hear the drummer well...

• þar sem við sátum í salnum explains the place/situation:

  • where we were sitting in the hall

So here þar sem is best understood as where.

It is true that þar sem can sometimes mean since / because in other sentences, but in this sentence it is spatial: where we sat.

Sátum is the past tense plural of sitja.

The verb is irregular:

• sitja = to sit
• ég sat = I sat
• við sátum = we sat

So:

• við sátum í salnum = we were sitting / we sat in the hall

This is just one of those strong-verb patterns that has to be learned.

Because í takes:

• accusative for movement into something
• dative for location inside something

Here it means location:

• í salnum = in the hall

Compare:

• við gengum í salinn = we walked into the hall
• við sátum í salnum = we sat in the hall

So salnum is dative because no movement is involved.

Here við is the pronoun we.

So:

• við sátum = we sat

This is easy to confuse because við can also be a preposition in other contexts, for example:

• við húsið = by the house
• við þig = with you / toward you, depending on context

But in this sentence, it is definitely the subject pronoun we.