Learn Icelandic: Við drukkum kaffið hjá varðeldinum og náttúran var falleg. - We drank the coffee by the campfire, and the nature was beautiful.

Drekka (to drink) is a strong verb, meaning it doesn't take a standard past tense ending (like -ði or -ti) but instead changes its core vowel. For plural pronouns like við (we), strong verbs often change their vowel again compared to the singular. So while "I drank" is ég drakk, "we drank" becomes við drukkum.

Why does varðeldur (campfire) become varðeldinum in this sentence?

The preposition hjá (by/at) always forces the noun that follows it into the dative case. Varðeldur is a masculine noun that becomes varðeldi in the dative. Because the sentence says "the campfire", we add the dative masculine definite article -num to the end, resulting in varðeldinum.

Kaffið (the coffee) is the object being drank. Why doesn't its ending change to show the accusative case?

Kaffi is a neuter noun, and neuter nouns have a very helpful rule: their accusative form (the object form) is always exactly the same as their nominative form (the dictionary form). When you add the definite article -ð to make it "the coffee", it stays kaffið in both cases.

Why does the sentence use falleg (beautiful) instead of the common form fallegt?