På knekkebrødet legger jeg skinke og annet pålegg.

Because Norwegian follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb must come in the second position.

In this sentence, På knekkebrødet is placed first for emphasis/topic, so the verb has to come next:

• På knekkebrødet legger jeg skinke og annet pålegg.

If you start with the subject instead, you get the more neutral order:

• Jeg legger skinke og annet pålegg på knekkebrødet.

So legger jeg is not unusual here—it happens because something other than the subject comes first.

Literally, på knekkebrødet means on the crispbread.

Norwegian uses på when something is physically placed on top of a surface or piece of food:

• på brødet = on the bread
• på pizzaen = on the pizza
• på knekkebrødet = on the crispbread

That is why på is natural here: the ham and other toppings are being placed on the crispbread.

Knekkebrød is a neuter noun in Norwegian, and -et is the usual definite singular ending for neuter nouns.

So:

• et knekkebrød = a crispbread
• knekkebrødet = the crispbread

This sentence is talking about a specific crispbread, so the definite form is used.

Here legger means put, place, or lay.

The verb is å legge, which often means to place something somewhere:

• Jeg legger boka på bordet. = I put the book on the table.
• Jeg legger skinke på knekkebrødet. = I put ham on the crispbread.

So in this sentence, legger is not about lying down yourself; it is the transitive verb meaning to put/place something.

Pålegg is a very common Norwegian word for food that you put on bread or crispbread.

It can include things like:

• ham
• cheese
• salami
• jam
• liver pâté
• caviar spread

In English, depending on context, you might translate it as:

• topping
• spread
• sandwich filling
• cold cuts and other toppings

There is no perfect one-word English equivalent, because Norwegian uses pålegg very broadly for things eaten on bread.

Because annet agrees with pålegg, and pålegg is treated here as a singular/neuter mass noun.

Compare:

• annet pålegg = other topping / other kinds of topping
• andre ting = other things

So:

• annet is used with singular/neuter
• andre is used with plural or many common-gender contexts

Since pålegg here is not really being counted as separate individual items, annet pålegg is the natural choice.

Because the speaker is naming one specific topping first, then adding a more general category:

• skinke = ham
• annet pålegg = other toppings

So the meaning is basically:

• I put ham and other toppings on the crispbread.

This is very natural in both Norwegian and English: first mention one important example, then add the rest.

Yes. That is probably the most neutral word order.

Compare:

• Jeg legger skinke og annet pålegg på knekkebrødet.
  = neutral statement

• På knekkebrødet legger jeg skinke og annet pålegg.
  = puts extra focus on what I put it on

So both are correct, but the original sentence highlights the crispbread first.

Yes. Legger is the present tense of å legge.

Norwegian present tense can often cover both:

• a habitual action: I put ham and other toppings on crispbread
• an action happening right now: I’m putting ham and other toppings on the crispbread

The exact meaning depends on context. Norwegian often does not distinguish as sharply as English between I put and I am putting.

Yes, it is indefinite in the sense that it means ham as a substance/topping, not a ham as a whole object.

With food items and uncountable nouns, Norwegian often omits the article where English also often does:

• Jeg spiser brød. = I eat bread.
• Jeg kjøper ost. = I buy cheese.
• Jeg legger skinke på knekkebrødet. = I put ham on the crispbread.

So skinke here means ham in a general material sense, not one whole identifiable ham.