Legenden er gammel.

Because Norwegian usually makes nouns definite by adding an ending to the noun.

• en legende = a legend
• legenden = the legend

So the -en ending is the definite singular ending for many masculine/common-gender nouns in Bokmål.

The basic form is legende, and you normally learn it as en legende.

That means:

• en legende = indefinite singular
• legenden = definite singular

So if you look this word up, you would usually search for legende.

In Norwegian, the is often built into the noun instead of being a separate word.

So English:

• the legend

becomes Norwegian:

• legenden

This is very common in Norwegian. A separate word like den is often used only in certain structures, such as when there is an adjective before the noun:

• den gamle legenden = the old legend

Er means is. It is the present tense of å være, which means to be.

A few forms of å være are:

• å være = to be
• er = is / am / are in the present tense
• var = was / were

So Legenden er gammel follows the same pattern as English The legend is old.

Because adjectives in Norwegian often agree with the noun they describe.

Here, legenden is singular and common gender, so the adjective is:

• gammel

Compare:

• En bil er gammel = a car is old
• Et hus er gammelt = a house is old
• Bilene er gamle = the cars are old

So in Legenden er gammel, gammel matches a singular common-gender noun.

Because this sentence is using gammel as a predicate adjective, after the verb er.

The structure is:

• subject + er
  • adjective

So:

• Legenden er gammel

If you want the adjective directly before the noun, you need a different structure:

• den gamle legenden = the old legend

That is the difference between:

• The legend is old → Legenden er gammel
• The old legend → den gamle legenden

Yes. This is the normal word order for a simple statement in Norwegian:

• subject + verb + adjective/complement

So:

• Legenden = subject
• er = verb
• gammel = adjective

If you turn it into a yes/no question, the verb comes first:

• Er legenden gammel? = Is the legend old?

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

• leh-GEN-den er GAM-mel

Approximate stress:

• legenDEN? No — the stress is on the second syllable: le-GEN-den
• GAM-mel has stress on the first syllable

A few helpful notes:

• g is a hard g here
• the -en at the end of legenden is unstressed
• gammel has a short first vowel and a clear double m

Usually, yes. It commonly means a traditional story, myth, or legend.

In some contexts, it can also mean a very famous or admired person, like English a legend. For example, someone might call a great athlete en legende.

So the word is very similar to English, but the exact meaning depends on context.

Here gammel means old in the sense of age.

With something like a legend, it can suggest:

• old
• ancient
• very old
• long-standing

It does not mean old-fashioned here. It is simply describing age.