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Fólkið trúir að kirkjugarðurinn sé reimtur.

Fólkið trúir að kirkjugarðurinn sé reimtur.
The people believe that the cemetery is haunted.
From Lesson 213:Subjective reported speech (subjunctive)·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Fólkið trúir að kirkjugarðurinn sé reimtur.

Why is sé used here instead of er?
Sé is the present subjunctive form of vera (to be). We use it here because the main verb is trúir (believe). In Icelandic, verbs that express subjectivity, beliefs, or indirect claims trigger the subjunctive mood in the following að (that) clause.
Why is the verb trúir singular when "the people" is plural in English?
In Icelandic, the word fólk (people) is a grammatically singular neuter noun. Because of this, it takes a singular verb form (trúir). Even though it translates to a plural concept in English, you must treat it as a single unit when building Icelandic sentences.
How is the word kirkjugarðurinn built?
It is a compound of kirkja (church) and garður (yard or garden), ending with the attached masculine definite article -inn. It literally translates to "the churchyard," which is the standard Icelandic word for a cemetery.
Why does the word for haunted end in -ur (reimtur) here?
The adjective must agree with the noun it describes, which is kirkjugarðurinn (the cemetery). Because garður is a masculine noun in the nominative case here, the adjective takes the masculine nominative singular ending -ur. If you were speaking generally (It is haunted), you would use the neuter form reimt (Það er reimt).

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