Breakdown of Þorir nokkur að labba inn í rústina í myrkrinu?
að
to (infinitive marker)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
labba
to walk (informal)
inn
in (motion inwards)
myrkrið
the darkness
nokkur
anybody / any
þora
to dare
rústin
the ruin
Questions & Answers about Þorir nokkur að labba inn í rústina í myrkrinu?
Why use nokkur here instead of einhver?
In questions and negative sentences, nokkur is used to mean "any" or "anybody". Since this is a question asking if anyone at all dares to go in, nokkur is the right choice. If it were a positive statement, you would use einhver instead.
Why is nokkur in the masculine form if we don't know who the person is?
When referring to an unknown person or people in general, Icelandic grammar defaults to the masculine singular form. Here it is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence doing the daring.
Why does the first í trigger the accusative case for rústina but the second í triggers the dative case for myrkrinu?
This sentence perfectly shows the difference between movement and position. The phrase inn í describes active movement into the ruin, so it forces the accusative case. The second í simply describes the static setting of being in the dark, which requires the dative case.
Could I use ganga instead of labba to mean walk?
Yes, you could use ganga, but labba is extremely common in everyday spoken Icelandic for casual walking. Ganga can sometimes sound a bit more formal or is used when referring to a hike or a longer walk.
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