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Sjómaðurinn er breiðaxlaður og dökkhærður.

Sjómaðurinn er breiðaxlaður og dökkhærður.
The fisherman is broad-shouldered and dark-haired.
From Lesson 389:Compound physical descriptions (-ur)·Icelandic

Breakdown of Sjómaðurinn er breiðaxlaður og dökkhærður.

vera
to be
og
and
sjómaðurinn
the sailor
dökkhærður
dark-haired
breiðaxlaður
broad-shouldered

Questions & Answers about Sjómaðurinn er breiðaxlaður og dökkhærður.

How is the compound adjective dökkhærður formed from the word for hair (hár)?
It combines the stem of dökkur (dark) with hár (hair). When forming this kind of descriptive adjective, the vowel in the noun often changes due to a historical sound shift (i-umlaut). Here, the á in hár shifts to æ, and we add the suffix -ður, giving us -hærður (haired).
What makes up the word breiðaxlaður?
It combines breiður (broad) and the noun öxl (shoulder). The noun drops its ending to become the stem axl-, and the descriptive suffix -aður is added. Together, they form an adjective meaning 'having broad shoulders'.
If the subject were a woman, how would these two adjectives decline?
They must agree with a feminine singular subject. Dökkhærður simply drops the masculine -ur ending to become dökkhærð. However, breiðaxlaður follows the pattern of -aður adjectives. The feminine ending is -uð, and this u ending causes the a in axl to shift to ö (u-umlaut), resulting in breiðöxluð.
Does sjómaður strictly mean 'fisherman' or can it mean any 'sailor'?
Sjómaður literally translates to 'sea-man'. While it is the standard word for a sailor or seafarer in general, in Iceland's context it very frequently refers specifically to a fisherman.

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