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Hollustan okkar er órjúfanleg, hvort sem við lifum eða deyjum.

Hollustan okkar er órjúfanleg, hvort sem við lifum eða deyjum.
Our loyalty is unbreakable, whether we live or die.
From Lesson 416:Whether or not (hvort sem ... eða)·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Hollustan okkar er órjúfanleg, hvort sem við lifum eða deyjum.

How exactly does the hvort sem ... eða structure work in this sentence?
This structure introduces a concessive disjunction clause. Hvort sem translates to "whether" and eða to "or". Together, they present two opposing options—við lifum and deyjum—and show that the main statement (our loyalty is unbreakable) remains true regardless of which option comes to pass.
Does the phrase hvort sem trigger the subjunctive mood for the verbs that follow it?
Unlike some other concessive conjunctions like þó að (even though), hvort sem does not strictly require the subjunctive mood. In modern Icelandic, it is perfectly normal and common to use the standard indicative mood, which is why we see the regular present tense forms lifum and deyjum here.
Why is the word for "unbreakable" written as órjúfanleg without an ending?
It actually does have an ending, specifically the feminine nominative singular form! The subject of the sentence, hollustan, is a feminine noun. For adjectives ending in the masculine -legur, the feminine nominative singular simply drops the -ur, leaving us with -leg.
How can I break down the word órjúfanleg to remember its meaning?
It is built from three parts: the negative prefix ó- (un-), the root of the verb rjúfa (to break, breach, or sever), and the suffix -anleg, which functions exactly like the English suffix "-able". Put together, it literally translates to "un-breach-able".
Why do we say hollustan okkar instead of just hollusta okkar?
In Icelandic, when a noun is followed by a possessive pronoun like okkar, the noun almost always takes the definite article suffix first. So the base feminine noun hollusta (loyalty) becomes hollustan (the loyalty) before the possessive is added.

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