Uansett hvor leirgodset tørker, er tørketiden lang.

Uansett hvor means no matter where or regardless of where.

It is a very common pattern in Norwegian:

• uansett hva = no matter what
• uansett når = no matter when
• uansett hvordan = no matter how
• uansett hvor = no matter where

So Uansett hvor leirgodset tørker means something like No matter where the clay ware / clay body dries.

Because this is not a direct question. It is a subordinate clause introduced by uansett hvor.

In Norwegian, subordinate clauses usually keep normal subject + verb order:

• leirgodset tørker

That is why you get:

• Uansett hvor leirgodset tørker ...

and not:

• Uansett hvor tørker leirgodset ...

The version with tørker leirgodset would look like a direct question pattern, which is not what is happening here.

The comma separates the subordinate clause from the main clause.

Structure of the sentence:

• Uansett hvor leirgodset tørker = subordinate clause
• er tørketiden lang = main clause

When a subordinate clause comes first in Norwegian, it is normally followed by a comma before the main clause.

This is because of the V2 rule in Norwegian. In main clauses, the finite verb must come in the second position.

The whole opening clause:

• Uansett hvor leirgodset tørker

counts as the first element of the sentence.

So in the main clause, the verb has to come next:

• er

and then the subject follows:

• tørketiden

So:

• Uansett hvor leirgodset tørker, er tørketiden lang.

If the sentence began directly with the subject, then you would say:

• Tørketiden er lang.

Both are correct, but the word order changes because something else is placed first.

Because tørketiden is the real subject.

Norwegian does sometimes use det as a dummy subject, but not when there is already a normal subject in the clause. Here the structure is simply:

• er = verb
• tørketiden = subject
• lang = predicate adjective

So tørketiden itself is doing the job of the subject, and det is unnecessary.

Leirgodset is a compound noun.

It is built from:

• leir = clay
• gods = ware, goods, material, body

Together, leirgods refers to clay ware, ceramic ware, or a clay body, depending on context.
Then -et is the definite ending, so:

• leirgods = clay ware / clay body
• leirgodset = the clay ware / the clay body

Norwegian very often forms nouns as one compound word, where English might use two words or a phrase.

Tørketiden is another compound noun:

• tørke = dry / drying
• tid = time

So:

• tørketid = drying time
• tørketiden = the drying time

Again, Norwegian prefers compounds as one word.
Also notice that the definite ending is added to the last part of the compound:

• tid → tiden
• therefore tørketid → tørketiden

A useful rule: in Norwegian compounds, the last element usually determines the gender and inflection of the whole word.

It can often cover both ideas, depending on context.

Tørker is the present tense of tørke. In this sentence, it means that the clay ware dries or is drying.

Norwegian present tense often does the work of both:

• English dries
• English is drying

So leirgodset tørker can mean:

• the clay ware dries
• the clay ware is drying

Also, tørke can be used intransitively here, meaning the thing itself undergoes drying.

Because lang is an adjective, while lenge is an adverb.

Here, lang describes the noun tørketiden:

• tørketiden er lang = the drying time is long

You use lenge when describing how long an action lasts:

• Det varer lenge = It lasts a long time
• Det tørker lenge = It dries for a long time

So in this sentence, since the word being described is the noun tørketiden, lang is the correct form.

Yes. Here hvor means where and refers to place.

But it is not being used to ask a direct question. Instead, it introduces a place-related subordinate clause inside the expression uansett hvor:

• uansett hvor = no matter where

So it functions more like wherever in English than like a straightforward question word.

They are definite because the sentence is talking about specific, understood things in context:

• leirgodset = the clay ware / the clay body
• tørketiden = the drying time

In technical or descriptive writing, Norwegian often uses the definite form when referring to something already known from the situation or topic being discussed.

So the sentence is not talking about any possible drying time in general, but about the drying time of that material or process.