Breakdown of Vi hör stormästaren läsa eden, vilka hinder vi än må möta.
vi
we
läsa
to read
höra
to hear
vilka
which (plural)
möta
to meet (encounter, come face to face)
hindret
the obstacle
än
ever (concessive particle)
må
may (concessive auxiliary)
eden
the oath
stormästaren
the grand master
Questions & Answers about Vi hör stormästaren läsa eden, vilka hinder vi än må möta.
How does the structure vilka hinder vi än må möta translate to "whatever obstacles we may face"?
This is an indefinite relative clause. In Swedish, you frame the noun with a question word like vilka (which/what) and the particle än to mean "whatever [noun]". The concessive auxiliary verb må translates directly to "may", showing that these future obstacles are hypothetical. Broken down: vilka hinder ... än means "whatever obstacles", and vi må möta means "we may face".
Why is the word än placed right after the subject in the second clause?
In these "whoever/whatever" constructions, än behaves like a sentence adverb. Because vilka hinder vi än må möta is a subordinate clause, it follows the Swedish rule where sentence adverbs must come before the first verb. Therefore, än is placed right after the subject vi and just before the verb phrase må möta.
Why is the verb läsa in the infinitive instead of the present tense läser?
This happens because höra (to hear) is a verb of perception. Just like in English ("we hear the grand master read"), Swedish uses the bare infinitive without att after perception verbs (such as höra, se, or känna) to describe an action you perceive someone else doing.
How can we tell if hinder is singular or plural here?
It is plural ("obstacles"). Ett hinder is an ett-word that ends in a consonant, which means its indefinite plural form is exactly the same as its singular form: flera hinder (several obstacles). You can tell it's plural in this sentence because it is modified by the plural pronoun vilka.
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