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Childhood Christmas memories from northern Norway

Childhood Christmas memories from northern Norway

Norwegian history

In my childhood, life was simple. The small joys of Christmas lifted our spirits – and delivered us safely into the new year.

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Norwegian words | Uekte – ekte | Illegitimate – legitimate

Norwegian words | Uekte – ekte | Illegitimate – legitimate

Knowledge

Uekte and ekte are Norwegian adjectives, which in one context mean illegitimate and legitimate – as in a child born out of or in wedlock.

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James Arness | Western hero and Norwegian Viking

James Arness | Western hero and Norwegian Viking

Norwegians

Are you hailing from Sykkylven in Møre og Romsdal, Norway? Well, then you might be related to the great film and television icon that was James Arness.

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Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja | Forces of nature

Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja | Forces of nature

Royalty

After a troubled ten-year courtship, the then Crown Prince Harald of Norway finally got his father’s blessing to marry Ms Sonja Haraldsen in 1968.

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Norwegian history timeline | From the ice ages until today

Norwegian history timeline | From the ice ages until today

Norwegian history

In what we today call Norway, human history began some 12,000 years ago, after the ice ages. In this post, we list the main historical eras between then and now.

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Queen Maud of Norway | A young lady on the Isle of Wight

Royalty

On 26 August 1909, a Norwegian newspaper retold a charming story from Cassell’s Saturday Journal, concerning a certain young lady on the Isle of Wight.

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Norwegian folk tales | Pesta and the Black Death

Norwegian folk tales | Pesta and the Black Death

Norwegian history

Norwegian folklore and old folk tales often depict The Black Death in the shape of an ashen-faced old woman – and her name is Pesta.

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The Norwegian Fjord horse | Almost as old as the mountains

The Norwegian Fjord horse | Almost as old as the mountains

Norwegian history

The Norwegian Fjord horse is one of today’s oldest horse breeds. Its historical habitat is Norway’s western coast, with its deep fjords and steep mountainsides.

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Remembering schoolteacher Eilert Wulff | Norway AD 1904

Norwegians

After a brief illness, schoolteacher Eilert Wulff of Hammerfest died on 22 October 1904. He was survived by his wife Dorothea Sæther, 28, and son Aksel, 2.

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Norwegian history timeline | The ice ages

Norwegian history timeline | The ice ages

Norwegian history

In Scandinavia, there have been as many as 30 ice ages over the last 2.5 million years. The latest period stretched between 115,000 and 10,000 BC.

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Skibladner | Norway’s oldest paddle steamer still in service

Skibladner | Norway’s oldest paddle steamer still in service

Norwegian history

Skibladner is one of the world’s oldest paddle steamers still in regular service. Her launch was in 1856, and she sails on Norway’s largest lake, Mjøsa.

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The old Norwegian cemetery | Once and always a pauper

The old Norwegian cemetery | Once and always a pauper

Norwegian history

It has been said that all people are equal in Heaven, but the historical churchyard shows us that no such equality applied here on Earth.

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The muskox | A newcomer in the Norwegian landscape

The muskox | A newcomer in the Norwegian landscape

Nature

The Norwegians rarely allow alien species into their fauna, with one notable exception, the muskox – first welcomed back to Norway from Greenland in 1924.

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Muskox | Norwegian man killed in 1964 muskox attack

Muskox | Norwegian man killed in 1964 muskox attack

Nature

On 22 July 1964, a stray muskox bull killed 73-year-old Ole P. Stølen from Oppdal, Trøndelag, Norway. Local authorities shot the animal to prevent further attacks.

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Queen Maud of Norway | The secret of the queen’s coffin

Queen Maud of Norway | The secret of the queen’s coffin

Royalty

In 1938, Norway’s Queen Maud died unexpectedly during a visit to the UK. But what happened to her unentombed coffin when the Nazis attacked Norway in 1940?

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The royal palace in Oslo | Built by a French general

The royal palace in Oslo | Built by a French general

Royalty

As far as palaces go, the official royal residence in Oslo is a modestly sized building. Did you know that it was built by a French general?

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A man died after being bitten by a wolf | Norway AD 1720

Norwegian history

In 1720, in the community of Meldal in Trøndelag, Norway, Vellik Andersson died aged 37, after being bitten by a wild wolf. He was buried on 8 September.

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Norwegian to English dictionary | The best for genealogists?

Norwegian to English dictionary | The best for genealogists?

Knowledge

If you are of Norwegian descent, and are studying old Norwegian documents, then Einar Haugen’s Norwegian-English dictionary may be a tool that can assist you.

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Practical farming in Norway in 1815 | The month of February

Practical farming in Norway in 1815 | The month of February

Norwegian history

February was the month when the historical Norwegian farmer had to be vigilant about the housebound livestock’s remaining fodder. It was still only midwinter.

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When the old Norway changed | The old Norwegian farm

When the old Norway changed | The old Norwegian farm

Norwegian history

Between 1850 and 1950, Norwegian society transformed. The age-old fishing, hunting, and farming society gradually turned into a modern, industrialised country.

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Night fishing using a spear and a torch | Lystring

Night fishing using a spear and a torch | Lystring

Norwegian history

An ancient fishing method was to catch the fish in the dark, using a multi-pronged spear and a torch. The Norwegians call it lystring – the English leistering.

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Norway | What does the name of the country really mean?

Norway | What does the name of the country really mean?

Knowledge

A loved child goes by many names, says a Norwegian expression. This certainly applies to the country Norway. But what does the name really mean?

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Norwegian censuses | The 1769 census was the first

Norwegian censuses | The 1769 census was the first

Norwegian history

1769 was the year of the first complete Norwegian census – and the population was 723,618. Today, Norway has a population of more than 5 million.

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Norwegian ski history | Hunting in deep snow

Norwegian ski history | Hunting in deep snow

Norwegian history

The word ski comes from the Old Norse language and means cleft wood. The old Norwegians were hunters, and have used skis to their advantage for over 5000 years.

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Norway has the second longest coastline in the world

Norway has the second longest coastline in the world

Nature

With its 102,937 km, Norway’s mainland coastline, including its many fjords and islands, is the second longest in the world, next only to Canada.

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The Sami | The Sami flag days calendar

The Sami | The Sami flag days calendar

Sami history

The Sami calendar consists of 12 flag days, the most prominent of them being the Sami National Day on 6 February.

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Practical farming in Norway in 1815 | The month of January

Practical farming in Norway in 1815 | The month of January

Norwegian history

6 January is the 13th day of Christmas, marking the end of the holiday season on the old Norwegian farm. Now was the time to fully return to the everyday grind.

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The old Norwegian farm | A result of landscape and climate

The old Norwegian farm | A result of landscape and climate

Norwegian history

The Norwegian geography and climate have significant variations. The old Norwegian farm was always a result of its location, and the local availability of resources.

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The old calendar-stick | The old Norwegian farm

The old calendar-stick | The old Norwegian farm

Norwegian history

The old Norwegians split the year into two main seasons: summer and winter – and used a two-sided wooden calendar-stick to guide them.

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Fridtjof Nansen and his Arctic mission impossible

Fridtjof Nansen and his Arctic mission impossible

Norwegians

In 1893, Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his crew set out on a three-year expedition; aboard a ship locked in by the slow-moving Arctic Ocean ice.

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Practical farming in Norway in 1815 | The month of March

Practical farming in Norway in 1815 | The month of March

Norwegian history

If the weather has been mild in the days leading up to the old Catholic Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, then be sure that the frost will return.

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A Norwegian emigrant and his sweetheart | Norway AD 1895

Norwegian history

Neither the great Atlantic Ocean, nor time or social conventions, could crush a love meant to be.

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The Sapmi and Sami flag | A symbol of unity

The Sapmi and Sami flag | A symbol of unity

Sami history

The Sami flag is the official flag of Sapmi. Sapmi is the name of the historical Sami territories, stretching across today’s Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.

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