Breakdown of Skáldskapurinn er vegsamar kónginn er djúpstæður.
vera
to be
kóngurinn
the king
er
which / who (formal)
skáldskapurinn
the poetry
vegsama
to glorify
djúpstæður
profound
Questions & Answers about Skáldskapurinn er vegsamar kónginn er djúpstæður.
Why does the word er appear twice in this sentence? Are they doing the same thing?
No, they have completely different functions here! The first er is the formal relative particle meaning "which" or "that" (the focus of this lesson). The second er is simply the verb "is" (from vera), acting as the main verb of the whole sentence: "[...] is profound".
Could I replace the first er with sem?
Yes, absolutely. In fact, you almost always would in daily life. The relative particle er is highly formal and mostly found in older literature, poetry, or formal writing. In spoken Icelandic, you would naturally say Skáldskapurinn sem vegsamar...
kónginn is in the accusative case, so why is the adjective djúpstæður in the nominative case?
Because djúpstæður describes the subject of the sentence, Skáldskapurinn (the poetry), not the king. The relative clause er vegsamar kónginn is just inserted in the middle. If you strip away the descriptive clause, the core sentence is simply: Skáldskapurinn er djúpstæður (The poetry is profound).
Does the verb vegsama (to glorify) govern the accusative case here?
Yes. It acts as a standard transitive verb in this sentence, meaning it forces its direct object—kónginn (the king)—into the accusative case.
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