The old Norwegians sometimes preserved milk in a container buried in a peat bog. They called it myrmelk. The lack of oxygen in the bog kept the milk fresh – and it could be stored there for months, even years.
Norwegian words
Uff da! | What does the Norwegian expression mean?
Uff da! is a Norwegian interjection, often used to express sympathy. For example when a child falls over: Uff da! Slo du deg? – meaning Poor you! Did you hurt yourself?
Norwegian words | Skårfast | Stuck on a mountain ledge
Skårfast is a Norwegian adjective. It means that a person or an animal is stuck on a steep mountain or cliff-side ledge – and is in need of being rescued.
Kantslått | Means cut grass in Norwegian
Kantslått is a Norwegian noun that means (1) the grass that is cut along the edges of a field, a road, etc. or (2) the actual process of cutting this grass. Traditionally, the grass was used as animal fodder.
Norway | What does the name of the country really mean?
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?
Ljå | Means scythe in Norwegian
Ljå is a Norwegian noun that means a scythe – an old agricultural cutting-tool used when mowing the grass to make hay, or when harvesting the grain crops.
Budrått | Means milk products in Norwegian
Budrått is a Norwegian noun that means the output of milk products on a farm – such as cheese and butter. The word is often associated with what was produced during the summer on the seasonal mountain or forest pasture farm – the seter.
Kløvhest | Means packhorse in Norwegian
Kløvhest is a Norwegian noun that means packhorse. Well into our own time, the Norwegians used horses to help transport goods through a challenging landscape.
Åre | Means open fire on the floor in Norwegian
Åre is a Norwegian noun that means an open fireplace, placed on the floor in the middle of a room. The smoke goes up and out through a vent in the roof – the ljore.
Skigard | Means wooden fence in Norwegian
Skigard is a Norwegian noun that means wooden fence. It is made of split tree trunks, using simple tools. Fence making and mending was a task for early summer.
Kipe | Means a basket in Norwegian
A kipe is a tall, woven basket, often made of twigs from the birch tree. It was carried on the back, and typically used when carrying loads in a landscape full of steep fields and paths.
Norwegian baking through the seasons
"Nevada Berg takes readers back into her Norwegian kitchen, offering a year’s worth of new baking...
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...
Norwegian to English dictionary | The best for genealogists?
In North America and other parts of the world, there are millions of descendants of the nearly 1 million Norwegians who emigrated in the 1800s and...
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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...
Åre | Means open fire on the floor in Norwegian
Pronunciation Åre The grammar noun | masculine | the indefinite form: en åre (a åre) | the definite form: åren (the åre) | comes from the Old Norse...
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 Sapmi and Sami flag | A symbol of unity
A brief introduction The Sami are often referred to as one people, but they are in fact several peoples. The various sub-groups have common ethnic...
The old Norwegian farm | Moving into the barn during summer
A peculiar custom Every summer in the early 1900s, when spending the summer months with his grandparents, a young Norwegian boy experienced a...
The old Norwegian farm | Finding Ole Johan Nyaas and his barn
The photo DigitaltMuseum is Norway’s digital photo museum and the home of more than 2 million photographs. This is where I found the historical...
The Sami | Sleeping on a bed of glowing embers
In his writings on Sami history, Yngve Ryd retells this fascinating Sami historical observation, shared by Ola Omma. The mountain willow When...
A man died after being bitten by a wolf | Norway AD 1720
Vellik was the son of Anders and Mildri, tenants on the farm Nordvoll, and was the oldest of 6 siblings. Vellik married Marit Skarålia in 1716, and...
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...
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...
The Norwegian cheese slicer | Ostehøvel
Norwegian cheese Cheese has been part of the Norwegian diet since time immemorial. Every summer, the historical Norwegian farmers sent their cows...
Childhood Christmas memories from northern Norway
This post is based on the childhood memories of Othilie Johnsen, born 1894 in Kiby, Finnmark, Thomas Johansen, born 1883 in Kvalnes, Nordland, and...
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 | The Sortehaug farm saga
The municipality of Skodje Skodje is a municipality in the county of Møre og Romsdal, Norway (Sunnmøre). The administrative centre of the...
Practical farming in Norway in 1815 | The month of February
Lorentz Diderich Klüwer: In 1815, Norwegian farmer and army officer Lorentz Diderich Klüwer published a pamphlet on practical farming. In this post,...
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...
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...
Queen Maud of Norway | Alexandra was her mother
Alexandra was born on 1 December 1844, at the Yellow Palace - Det Gule Palæ - in Copenhagen. She was the second of six children born to Christian...
Norway | What does the name of the country really mean?
The land to the north Today, the official name of the country is The Kingdom of Norway. Let us start by looking at what the Norwegians themselves...
The muskox | A newcomer in the Norwegian landscape
Muskox fossils In 1913, Norwegian railway workers found muskox ice-age fossils in the mountainous region of Dovre. The fossils predated the time...
The first Norwegian farms appeared in the Stone age
The first humans In Norway, human history begins with the end of the last ice age, some 10-15,000 years ago. As the ice melted and disappeared,...
The old Norwegian farm | Bringing home the winter hay
In some parts of Norway, you find relatively flat landscapes. Here, the historical farmland was easier to clear and cultivate. The climate was...
The old Norway – and its last army of storytellers
Our humble beginnings Today, we have forgotten that the humans were also once a wild animal. Every single being was firmly connected to Mother Earth...
Norwegian food history | The difference between mead and beer
Pronunciation Mjød - øl Divine qualities The making of beer and mead stretches several thousand years back. The preparation process is similar, so...
The old Norwegian farm | Bonde = farmer | Bondegård = farm
The Norwegian word for farm is bondegård - which consists of two words: bonde + gård. In informal speech, people often only use the single word gård...
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...
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...