Skifellene virker i og for seg, men jeg foretrekker festesmøring.

Skifellene is the definite plural form of skifell.

It breaks down like this:

• ski = ski
• fell = skin, in the skiing sense of a climbing skin attached under the ski
• skifell = ski skin
• skifeller = ski skins
• skifellene = the ski skins

So the ending -ene shows that the noun is plural and definite: the ski skins.

This kind of noun is very common in Norwegian, where two nouns are joined together into one compound word.

Because the sentence is talking about a specific set of ski skins, not ski skins in general.

Compare:

• Skifeller virker. = Ski skins work. / Ski skins are effective.
• Skifellene virker. = The ski skins work. / These ski skins work.

In Norwegian, definiteness is usually marked on the noun itself with an ending, rather than with a separate word like the in English.

Here, virker means something like:

• work
• do the job
• are effective
• function

The verb is å virke.

In this sentence, it does not mean only seem, even though virke can also mean seem in other contexts.

For example:

• Det virker bra. = It seems good.
• Medisinen virker. = The medicine works.
• Skifellene virker. = The ski skins work.

So the exact English translation depends on context.

I og for seg is an idiomatic expression. It often means:

• in itself
• technically
• strictly speaking
• as such
• in a way

In this sentence, it softens what the speaker is saying. The idea is:

• the ski skins are okay
• they do work
• but the speaker still prefers something else

So Skifellene virker i og for seg suggests something like:

• The ski skins work, in themselves
• The ski skins do work, to be fair
• The ski skins are fine, as such

It often carries a slight nuance of concession: yes, they work, but...

Not really. Even though the words individually are simple, the whole phrase works as a fixed expression.

Word-for-word, it looks like:

• i = in
• og = and
• for seg = for itself / for itself alone

But that does not give natural English. It is much better to learn i og for seg as a chunk with an idiomatic meaning.

If you translate it too literally, the result will usually sound strange in English.

It shows a contrast:

• men = but
• jeg foretrekker = I prefer
• festesmøring = grip wax / kick wax

So the whole sentence has this structure:

1. Acknowledge that one option works
2. State a personal preference for another option

This makes the sentence sound balanced and natural. The speaker is not saying the ski skins are bad; they are just saying that they personally prefer grip wax.

Foretrekker is the present tense of å foretrekke, which means to prefer.

Forms:

• å foretrekke = to prefer
• foretrekker = prefer / am preferring
• foretrakk = preferred
• har foretrukket = have preferred

Example:

• Jeg foretrekker te. = I prefer tea.
• Hun foretrekker å gå. = She prefers to walk.

It is a useful verb, but it can feel slightly more formal or precise than just saying liker best in some contexts.

Because Norwegian often uses nouns without an article when speaking about a substance or category in a general sense.

Here, festesmøring refers to grip wax as a type of product, not to one specific container or one specific layer of wax.

Compare:

• Jeg foretrekker festesmøring. = I prefer grip wax.
• Jeg foretrekker denne festesmøringen. = I prefer this grip wax / this particular grip wax product.

This is similar to English in some cases:

• I prefer coffee
• I prefer butter
• I prefer grip wax

No article is needed when the noun is used as an uncountable substance or general category.

Festesmøring is a compound noun:

• feste = grip / hold / traction
• smøring = lubrication / waxing / applied ski wax

In skiing, festesmøring usually refers to grip wax or kick wax—wax put in the kick zone of classic skis so they grip the snow when you push off.

So it is a very skiing-specific word, and compound nouns like this are extremely common in Norwegian.

Because men is a coordinating conjunction, and after it Norwegian usually keeps normal main-clause word order.

Normal main-clause order is:

• subject + verb

So:

• jeg foretrekker = I prefer

That is why the sentence says:

• ..., men jeg foretrekker festesmøring.

Compare this with certain other words that can trigger inversion, such as adverbs placed first:

• I dag foretrekker jeg festesmøring. = Today I prefer grip wax.

Here, I dag comes first, so the verb comes before the subject. But after men, that does not happen automatically.

Yes, in this sentence you probably could, and the meaning would stay very similar:

• Skifellene virker i og for seg...
• Skifellene fungerer i og for seg...

Both can mean the ski skins work.

However, there can be a small nuance:

• fungerer often sounds a bit more like function properly
• virker can feel broader and sometimes more conversational

In everyday speech, both are possible here.

It is Bokmål.

Clues include:

• jeg rather than eg
• virker rather than a Nynorsk form like verkar
• foretrekker rather than a Nynorsk form like føretrekkjer or similar depending on style

A Nynorsk version might look different in several places.

A few important ones stand out:

1. Definite plural noun

   • skifellene = the ski skins

2. Present tense verb

   • virker = work / are effective
   • foretrekker = prefer

3. Idiomatic expression

   • i og for seg = in itself / to be fair / as such

4. Coordinating conjunction

   • men = but

5. Compound noun

   • festesmøring = grip wax / kick wax

6. No article with a general substance/category

   • jeg foretrekker festesmøring = I prefer grip wax

So even though the sentence is short, it contains several very typical features of Norwegian: compound nouns, definite suffixes, and an idiomatic phrase.