Breakdown of Strákurinn húkir hlæjandi í risinu, þar sem myrkrið er mest.
vera
to be
strákurinn
the boy
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
hlæja
to laugh
mest
most
húka
to crouch
risið
the attic
þar sem
where (location)
myrkrið
the darkness
Questions & Answers about Strákurinn húkir hlæjandi í risinu, þar sem myrkrið er mest.
Why do we use þar sem for "where" in this sentence instead of hvar?
Hvar is strictly a question word used to ask "Where is something?". When you want to link two parts of a sentence to describe a location (meaning "in the place that"), you use the locative relative clause þar sem (which literally means "there as").
The English translation says "where it is darkest," but I don't see a superlative adjective like "myrkast". How does this work?
The Icelandic sentence actually uses a noun phrase here: myrkrið er mest literally translates to "the darkness is most" or "the darkness is greatest." Mest is the neuter superlative form of mikill (much/great). While you could say þar sem er myrkast (where it is darkest), using the noun with mest is a very common and natural way to express this in Icelandic.
Does the ending of hlæjandi (laughing) change depending on who is doing the laughing?
No! Hlæjandi is a present participle, functioning just like the English "-ing" form. In Icelandic, present participles always end in -andi and they never change their endings to match gender, number, or case.
Why is the attic (risinu) in the dative case here?
The preposition í (in) dictates the case based on motion. Because the boy is stationary—crouching in one place—í triggers the dative case. If he were actively moving into the attic, it would take the accusative case.
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