Breakdown of Stjörnurnar sjást vel á dimmum himni.
vel
well
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
sjást
to see each other
dimmur
dark
stjarnan
the star
himinninn
the sky
Questions & Answers about Stjörnurnar sjást vel á dimmum himni.
Why does the verb sjást end in -st here?
This is the middle voice form of the verb sjá (to see). In Icelandic, adding -st to a verb can give it a passive or reciprocal meaning. Here, sjást translates to "can be seen" or "are visible" instead of the active "see".
The English translation says "in a dark sky", but the Icelandic sentence uses á. Why is that?
Prepositions rarely map one-to-one between languages. While English speakers say things are "in" the sky, Icelandic uses á (on) for the sky, treating it like a surface. Therefore, you say á himni rather than using í (in).
What is the dictionary form of himni, and why does its spelling change?
The dictionary form is himinn (sky). It is in the dative case here because the preposition á describes a static location. When the dative ending -i is added to himinn, the second i in the root drops out to make it easier to pronounce, resulting in himni instead of "himinni".
Why is the adjective dimmur (dark) written as dimmum?
Adjectives must match their noun in gender, number, and case. Himinn is a masculine, singular noun in the dative case. Because there is no definite article before "dark sky", the adjective takes the strong masculine singular dative ending, which is -um, making it dimmum.
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