Breakdown of Gli alpinisti non devono scoraggiarsi, né per il vento gelido né per l'impresa impossibile.
non
not
gli
the
per
for / in order to / because of
dovere
must
Questions & Answers about Gli alpinisti non devono scoraggiarsi, né per il vento gelido né per l'impresa impossibile.
Is scoraggiarsi considered a true reflexive verb here?
Not exactly. While it uses the reflexive pronoun si, the mountaineers aren't literally discouraging themselves. This is an intransitive pronominal verb. In Italian, adding a reflexive pronoun to certain verbs shifts them from an external action (to discourage someone else) to an internal change of state or emotion (to get discouraged, or to lose heart). This is very common with verbs expressing resignation or effort.
Can I move the si in scoraggiarsi to another part of the sentence?
Yes, you can! Because scoraggiarsi is paired with the modal verb devono, you have two options for the pronoun. You can attach it to the end of the infinitive as seen here (non devono scoraggiarsi), or you can place it before the conjugated modal verb (non si devono scoraggiare). Both options are completely natural and mean the exact same thing.
Why does the sentence use per instead of da to say 'by the freezing wind'?
Because the sentence isn't actually in the passive voice, even though the English translation uses the word 'by'. Since scoraggiarsi describes an internal emotional reaction, the preposition per is used to introduce the cause of that reaction (meaning 'because of' or 'due to'). If it were a true passive sentence, you would use da to indicate the agent (for example: sono stati scoraggiati dal vento).
Why is there a non at the beginning if we are already using (neither... nor)?