Breakdown of Vi ger vårt blod för brödraskapets skull, vilket offer stormästaren än må kräva.
vi
we
vilket
which (ett) / what a (ett-word, exclamatory)
för
for, to
ge
to give
vår
our (vår/vårt/våra)
kräva
to require
skull
sake
än
ever (concessive particle)
må
may (concessive auxiliary)
brödraskapet
the brotherhood
blodet
the blood
offret
the sacrifice (ritual, victim)
stormästaren
the grand master
Questions & Answers about Vi ger vårt blod för brödraskapets skull, vilket offer stormästaren än må kräva.
How does the construction vilket offer ... än må kräva work here to mean "whichever sacrifice ... may demand"?
This is an indefinite relative clause. By wrapping a question word like vilket (which) with än, you get the "-ever" meaning ("whichever"). Adding the concessive auxiliary må (may) emphasizes that the exact nature of the sacrifice doesn't change the outcome. Literally, it translates to "which sacrifice the grand master ever may demand".
Why is there no som after vilket offer, unlike in phrases like vad som än händer?
We only need som when the question word acts as the subject of the relative clause. In this sentence, stormästaren (the grand master) is the subject doing the demanding, and vilket offer is the object. If the sacrifice were the subject, you would need som, as in vilket offer som än må krävas (whichever sacrifice that may be demanded).
Could I use kan instead of må here, like vilket offer stormästaren än kan kräva?
Yes, you can use kan (can/might), and it is actually more common in modern everyday Swedish. However, må is used here because it sounds more formal, dramatic, and absolute, which perfectly fits the intense tone of giving blood for a brotherhood.
I recognize för ... skull as meaning "for the sake of", but why does brödraskapets have an -s?
The phrase för ... skull literally translates to "for [someone's/something's] sake". Because it relies on possession, the noun inside the phrase must always take the possessive -s ending. Since brödraskapet (the brotherhood) is definite, we add the -s directly to the definite form to get brödraskapets.
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