Norway is an eldorado for skiers and mountain hikers, both the experienced and the less experienced. But bad weather and low temperatures can easily...
The Norwegian mountain safety code | Always be prepared
read more
Norwegian history and knowledge
Norway’s 5 largest lakes
A land full of water Norway is a land full of water; and whether you are walking through an open, mountainous landscape - or find yourself deep...
Heddal stave church | A divine building built by a troll
A house of the new religion Christianity came to Norway with the Viking kings, around AD 1000. The Norwegian kings and the Catholic Church did its...
Norwegian ice export | a booming business for more than a century
See more photos at the end of the post Why the need for ice? The industrial revolution drove big change, and the creation of big cities. Food and...
Norwegian landscapes | On the coastal path along the Oslofjord
The landscape in this very particular part of Norway is relatively flat and was once below sea level. As the enormous amounts of heavy ice melted...
Bergen – Norway | Historical city once plundered by pirates
Once Norway's largest city Historically, Bergen was known as Bjørgvin. It was Norway's largest city throughout the Middle Ages - and up until as...
Only 3 percent of mainland Norway is agricultural land
It began with the ice ages In Northern Europe and Scandinavia, the last ice age ended some 10,000 years ago. The landscape that appeared from the...
The Kingdom of Norway
For most of our planet’s history, there were no countries, no borders. Mother Nature was one entity, where plants and animals moved freely, always...
A Norwegian’s take on the lead-up to the Black Death
The Black Death may have been one of the worst disasters ever to have hit humankind. In the mid-1300s, this bubonic plague went like fire across...
Norwegian censuses | The 1769 census was the first
Norway in 1769 In 1769, Norway was de facto a province under the Danish crown. The young Christian VII, known from the film A royal affair, was king...
The old Norwegian farm | When the old Norway changed
Let us begin with the 1769-census In 1769, when Norway was a province under Denmark and was ruled by the Danish king, it had a population of...
Norway has the second longest coastline in the world
From Sweden to Russia In the south, Norway’s coastline begins at the border with Sweden, in the region of Østfold, in the very south-eastern corner...
The global seed vault | An Arctic Noah’s ark
A global backup facility The majestic Svalbard archipelago – part of the Kingdom of Norway – rises like a frozen oasis from the Arctic Ocean, midway...
Skibladner | Norway’s oldest paddle steamer still in service
The great Lake Mjøsa It was on the great Lake Mjøsa that Skibladner went on her maiden voyage in 1856, as both a passenger and a freight vessel. And...
The old Norwegian farm | Farmhands could only leave twice a year
Summer and winter Today, the Norwegians think of the year in terms of 4 main seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. But the old Norwegian...
Norwegian Buhund | Herding dog and keeper of ancient traditions
A Buhund is not necessarily equal to a buhund When we talk about a Norwegian buhund, we must distinguish between: The spitz dog type and its place...
Did you read?
Norwegian railway history | The pioneer era 1851-1868
Preparing for progress For thousands of years, the Norwegians relied on boats, horses, reindeer, and their own two feet to transport both goods and...
Growth of the soil | Homesteading in the Norwegian mountains
As a young person growing up in Norway, my dream was to emigrate and become a homesteader somewhere in the North American wilderness. The problem...
Are Santa Claus’s reindeer all female?
A cold climate animal The reindeer is native to the arctic, sub-arctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and...
The old Norwegians needed no money
Picture this; the year is AD 1478. A family lives on a small farm in a mountainous part of Norway. The holding consists of a few simple buildings,...
Bergen – Norway | Historical city once plundered by pirates
Once Norway's largest city Historically, Bergen was known as Bjørgvin. It was Norway's largest city throughout the Middle Ages - and up until as...
The old Norwegian farm | Memories from Langfjordbotn in Finnmark
We find the small community of Langfjordbotn in the municipality of Alta, in the region of Finnmark. Tourists sometimes make a stop here on their...
Norwegian wooden buildings | One thousand years old
The old log house technique In 2002, Peter Kvernland Thomsen wrote a book about how to build wooden log houses; what the Norwegians call lafting. He...
Sami people | The Coastal Sami and their homes
Anders Larsen (1870-1949) was born into a Coastal Sami family - in Kvænangen in the region of Troms, Norway. He was a Sami culture champion,...
Do we show our ancestors the respect they deserve?
Listen carefully, when you next hear friends and family talk about historic people - and their way of life. Surely, our ancestors must have been an...
The old Norwegian farm | Memories from Værøy in Lofoten
Værøy is a small island municipality at the very tip of the Lofoten archipelago - in the region of Nordland, Norway. Surrounded by the might of the...
Norwegian folk tales | Pesta and the Black Death
The Black Death The Black Death was a deadly disease that ravaged humankind in the AD 1300s. In Norway, the pandemic came like a firestorm in the...
10 July – let the Norwegian haymaking begin
Focussed on animal husbandry The historical farming in Norway was very much based on the keeping of livestock, for two reasons in particular: Only...
Strandsitter | A Norwegian beach dweller
The old coastal Norway Throughout history and well into our own time, Norway was a society predominantly based on farming, fishing, gathering, and...
Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja | Forces of nature
King Harald V of Norway Among the Norwegians, King Harald is widely known for his great ability to show empathy and compassion – and not to forget:...
Norwegian food history | Milk from the domesticated animals
Food preservation Daily life for the historical Norwegians – living in a climate with long, frosty winters and short summers – was all about...
The old Norwegian farm | A result of landscape and climate
First hunter-gatherers – then farmers The first humans to appear on the Scandinavian peninsula, came after the last ice age, some 12,000 years ago....
Queen Maud of Norway | Her background and childhood years
Born in London Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria was born on 26 November 1869, at Marlborough House in London, just a stone's throw away from Buckingham...
The old Norwegian farm | The Sæterhaugen farm saga
«Heimar i Surnadal - band I» - author Hans Hyldbakk - copyright Surnadal kommune | Sæterhaugen - gårdsnummer 10 - bruksnummer 3 - the municipality...
Norwegian folk instruments | The birch trumpet
Using sound as a tool Since time immemorial, humankind has used sound to: signal danger, pass on a message, call people and farm animals back home,...
Klippfisk | What is Norwegian klipfish?
Can be stored for years The art of drying food is one of humankind’s oldest preservation methods. Fresh meat and fish are highly perishable, but...
Norwegian Buhund | Herding dog and keeper of ancient traditions
A Buhund is not necessarily equal to a buhund When we talk about a Norwegian buhund, we must distinguish between: The spitz dog type and its place...
The old Norwegian farm | The cotter’s holding | Husmannsplass
Let us start with the beginning In English, a Norwegian husmann is often referred to as a cotter, and his home as a cotter's holding - a...
Heddal stave church | A divine building built by a troll
A house of the new religion Christianity came to Norway with the Viking kings, around AD 1000. The Norwegian kings and the Catholic Church did its...
The old Norwegian farm | The Stornæve farm saga
In the beginning, there was ice and barren land Picture the beginning: during the last ice-age, Norway was a vast and empty land. As the ice...
The old Norwegian farm | A nation built on porridge | Grøt
Grain and water Porridge, flatbread, and lefse - a soft grain-based flatbread - were staple foods on the old Norwegian farm. Historically, today’s...
The Norwegian mountain safety code | Always be prepared
Norway is an eldorado for skiers and mountain hikers, both the experienced and the less experienced. But bad weather and low temperatures can easily...
The global seed vault | An Arctic Noah’s ark
A global backup facility The majestic Svalbard archipelago – part of the Kingdom of Norway – rises like a frozen oasis from the Arctic Ocean, midway...
Norwegian wood | The art of chopping, stacking, and drying firewood
In addition to writing bestseller historical novels and more, Norwegian writer Lars Mytting has...