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Mikið er töframaðurinn hæfileikaríkur.

Mikið er töframaðurinn hæfileikaríkur.
How talented the magician is.
From Lesson 242:Exclamations (mikið / en hvað)·Icelandic

Breakdown of Mikið er töframaðurinn hæfileikaríkur.

vera
to be
mikið
a lot
töframaðurinn
the magician
hæfileikaríkur
talented

Questions & Answers about Mikið er töframaðurinn hæfileikaríkur.

Why does the verb er come right after Mikið instead of after the subject?
In exclamative sentences starting with Mikið (meaning "how" or "how much"), Icelandic uses inverted word order. The verb must come immediately after Mikið, followed by the subject. That is why we say Mikið er töframaðurinn... and not Mikið töframaðurinn er....
How would this exact sentence look if we used the En hvað structure instead?
If you start the exclamation with En hvað, you use standard word order (subject + verb). The sentence would become En hvað töframaðurinn er hæfileikaríkur. Both structures are very common and mean exactly the same thing!
The adjective hæfileikaríkur looks quite long. How does it break down?
It is a compound of hæfileiki (talent or ability) and ríkur (rich). In Icelandic, someone who is talented is literally "talent-rich". Because the subject töframaðurinn is a masculine noun, this adjective takes the masculine nominative singular ending -ur.
Is töframaðurinn also a compound word?
Yes! It is made of töfra (from töfrar, meaning magic) and maður (man or person), plus the attached definite article -inn (the). So a magician is literally "the magic-man".

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