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Norwegian Genealogical Terms
| Norwegian Term | English Translation |
|---|---|
| andre gong | (the) second time |
| anleggsarbeidar (n) | Construction worker |
| år (n) | year(s) |
| arbeidar (n) | laborer |
| att | again |
| attende | back (again) |
| attgift | remarried |
| barn/born (n) | child/children |
| barnlaus(e) | childless |
| bonde (n) | farmer, peasant |
| bondegods (n) |
land owned by a freeholder (bonde) |
| borgstove (n) | dwelling house for servants |
| bruk (n) | farm unit; usually a single holding of land of varying size, owned or rented that is occupied and run by one household |
| brukar (n) | farm operator; either a freeholder, tenant farmer, or crofter |
| bruksdeling (n) | the partition of a farm unit that is assessed for tax purposes |
| bruksnummer (bnr.) (n) | independent farm unit that is assessed for tax purposes; most often makes up a portion of a <<matrikkelgard>>, see below |
| bu/budde (v) | reside/resided |
| bygd(i) (n) | (the) rural district/rural area |
| bygdeting (ting) (n) | local court with judicial and administrative tasks |
| bygsel (n) | lease of landed property |
| bygsle (v) | to lease; usually a farm or a part thereof or a piece of land assessed for tax purposes |
| dei | they/them |
| diplom (n) | diploma; official document from the Middle Ages |
| dotter (n) | daughter |
| døypt | baptized |
| ektefelle/ektemake (n) | spouse |
| enkje (n) | widow |
| enkjemann (n) | widower |
| erving (n) | heir |
| fabrikkarbeidar (n) | factory worker |
| far (n) | father |
| feste (n) | agreement or contract; applies to marriage (the engagement contract) or the act of renting land |
| festesetel/festebrev (n) | binding written agreement or contract; most often refers to the contract between the freeholder and the crofter when the latter assumed the duty to rent a croft |
| fiskar (n) | fisherman |
| fjøs (n) | barn for different animal types, including a cow barn, goat barn, sheep barn, etc. |
| flaumsag (n) | sawmill dependent upon flooding to grind the grain |
| flytta (v) | move/migrate |
| foreldri (n) | the parents |
| forretningsmann (n) | business man |
| før | before/prior to |
| føregåande | preceeding/last |
| første gong | (the) first time |
| fut (n) | bailiff, royal civil servant who collected taxes and fines; could also serve as prosecutor in criminal proceedings |
| gard (n) | farm; refers to a farming unit owned or rented by the holder or a group of farming units with a common name |
| gardbrukar (n) | farmer; refersto the operator of an independent farm unit including a freeholder or a tenant farmer |
| gardsbruk (n) | farm unit |
| gift | married |
| gravlagd | buried |
| hans | his |
| hennar | her |
| høgmellomalder (n) | the High Middle Ages (Ca. 1030—1350 AD) |
| huslyd (n) | household/family |
| husmann (n) | crofter; a person who rented land that was not assessed for tax purposes. The rent was paid through work performance |
| husmannsplass (n) | croft; farm unit located on land not assessed for taxation |
| i | at/on/in |
| ikkje | not |
| innerst (n) | a person who rented a room and formed a separate house hold; residing servant |
| jarnalder (n) | the Iron Age (ca. 500 BC-550 AD) |
| jente (n) | girl/single woman |
| jordebok (n) | cadastre, public land register; |
| jordkjellar/ kjellar (n) | house fully or partly dug down in the ground used for the storage of food, especially root crops; could also refer to the basement of the dwelling house |
| kanskje | perhaps |
| kår (n) | life allowance given to the retired farm couple by the buyer on the cession of the estate, usually including having a room or a building on the farm at their disposal, and the access to a certain amount of fuel, farm produce, animals, etc. |
| kårkone (n) | retired farmer’s or crofter’s wife/widow |
| kårmann (n) | retired farmer or crofter |
| kårstove (n) | retired farmer’s residence |
| kilometer (n) | kilometre; 1 k. = 0,62 mile |
| kjend som | known as |
| kone (n) | wife |
| kongeskøyte (n) | warranty deed issued by the King; including landed property belonging to the King, clerical institutions,and other public property |
| kontormann (n) | office clerk |
| korn (n) | grain |
| kring | approximately |
| lagrette (n) | jury |
| landskyld (n) | annual rent on individual assessed parcels of land; also employed to measure the size of the farm unit and as a basis for taxation |
| laup (n) |
unit of measure and weight system; usually measured in butter. The unit had regional variations, but one laup usually was equivalent to a weight of 15,4 kg. or 34 pounds and 16,2 liters, equivalent to a little less than four gallons. It also refers to landed property units that gave 1 laup of butter or an equivalent sum in annual rent. |
| lauskar (n) | single man |
| lauve (v) | the action of collecting foliage from trees for animal fodder |
| lækjar (n) | Medical Doctor |
| lærar (n) | school teacher |
| legd (n) | a system of poor relief that existed in rural areas in Norway before the introduction of social welfare defined by a number of farm units designed to take care of paupers |
| legdelem (n) | pauper; usually were cared for by farm families that made up a <<legd,> see above |
| leidang (n) | a naval defence organization originating in the era of the unification of Norway in the 9th century AD until the late Middle Ages, including the organization of a fleet of conscripted warships by peasants in a skipreide |
| leiglending (n) | tenant farmer; a person renting a farm or a farm unit that is assessed for tax purposes |
| leiglendingsbruk (n) | tenant farm |
| likeins | as well |
| løe (n) | building for storing hay and grain |
| makeskifte/makebyte (n) | exchange of deeds (where two farmers change properties) |
| mål (n) | acreage unit for field and meadow; could vary greatly from region to region; equivalent to a 1/4 of an acre |
| månadsmatabol (n) | landed unit in use during the Middle Ages, equivalent to an annual rent of 1 laup smør; 1 m. = 1 såldsåd |
| mann (n) | man |
| matrikkel (n) | public record or land register; include farm units that were assessed for tax purposes |
| matrikkelgard (n) | a farm listed in a public record or land register with a separate farm number; may consist of several <<bruksnummer>> (farm units), see above |
| me | we |
| mekanikar (n) | mechanic |
| mellomalderen (n) | the Middle Ages (approx. 550—1536 AD) |
| mor (n) | mother |
| namn (n) | name |
| naust (n) | boathouse |
| nemne (v) | mention |
| nok | apparently |
| nokre | some/several |
| odelsgods (n) | landed property subject to allodial rights |
| odelsrett (n) | allodial right; a certain right to own landed property because the person in question or his/her ancestors have owned it for a certain period of time; includes the right to redeem the property from another owner if the land is sold out of the family |
| og | and |
| og/også | also |
| om lag | approximately |
| oppsitjar (n) | the person operating a farm unit |
| overføre (v) | hand down, transfer (property, etc.) |
| på | on/at/in |
| paktar (n) | tenant |
| parfolk (n) | couple |
| plass (n) | croft |
| prestebol (n) | pastor’s domicile or farm that belonged to the pastor |
| prestebordsgods (n) | landed property connected with the pastoral office |
| så | then/next |
| seinmellomalder (n) | the late Middle Ages (approx. 1350—1536 AD) |
| sist(e) | last |
| sjå | see |
| sjukepleiar (n) | nurse |
| skav (n) | peeled bark used as animal fodder in times of emergency |
| skifte (n) | administration or distribution of an estate |
| skild(e) | divorced |
| skipreide (n) |
originally a geographical defence unit in which peasants were responsible for the equipment and peopling of ships; later developing into an organization built around a ting, a local self-ruling unit |
| skomakar (n) | shoemaker |
| skøyte (n) | deed |
| skreddar (n) | tailor |
| skrede (n) | landslide, avalanche |
| skyld (n) | figure indicating size and tax value of farm unit |
| skylddeling (n) | the division of a holding into one or more parcels; the assessed value of the holding prior to division was reduced accordingly and the boundaries for the new property were determined at the division |
| slåtte, slåttemark (n) | pasture |
| småbruk | smaller freehold |
| småbrukar (n) | farm operator of a smaller freehold |
| smørskyld, skatteskyld | basis for the taxation of landed property; used for the first time in the public register of 1665/1666 |
| snikkar (n) | carpenter |
| snøskrede (n) | snowslide |
| som | as/who/which |
| son(en) | (the) son |
| sorenskrivar (n) | district court judge |
| stabbur (n) | storage house built on short pillars for farm produce such as grain, meat, etc. |
| stedotter (n) | stepdaughter |
| stefar (n) | stepfather |
| steinskrede (n) | rockslide |
| stemor (n) | stepmother |
| steson (n) | stepson |
| stovehus (n) | dwelling house; in this connection a residential (farm) house |
| støl (n) | spring/summer mountain pasture including farm buildings, usually a dwelling house, a cow barn and one or several hay barns |
| strandsitjar (n) |
a person who rented land with a dwelling house near the coast, most often located in a city or village; in contrast to the crofter (husmann), the strandsitjar owned the dwelling house |
| svartedauden (n) | the Black Death, the bubonic plague (1349—50) |
| svigerfar (n) | father-in-law |
| svigerinne (n) | sister-in-law |
| svigermor (n) | mother-in-law |
| svigerson (n) | son-in-law |
| svoger (n) | brother-in-law |
| sysken (n) | brothers and sisters |
| syskenbarn (n) | first cousin |
| ta/tok | over take/took over |
| teig (n) | parcel of land |
| teigblanding (n) | the blending of parcels of land; resulting from numerous land divisions |
| tena/tente (v) | serve/served |
| tiende (n) | tithe |
| til | to (prep.) |
| tomtebruk (n) | parcel of land with a dwelling house (no farm land) |
| torv (n) | turf, sod |
| tredje gong | (the) third time |
| treske (v) | thresh |
| truleg | probably |
| trulova | enganged |
| tun (n) | farm yard enclosed by buildings; also used about the location of the farm houses together with barns and other associated buildings |
| turkestove (n) | building where grain (and malt) was dried |
| ugift | unmarried |
| uthus (n) | outbuilding; large building including a cow barn, a stable, hay barn, etc.under one roof |
| utmark (n) | outfield |
| utskifting (n) | land consolidation;dissolution of joint ownership and the blending of strips of land; employed both on the infield and the outfield |
| utvandre | emigrate |
| vegarbeidar (n) | road construction worker |
| veit ikkje | do not know |
| visstnok | apparently |
No matches for term | |
Dictionary used with permission of Terje Mikael Hasle Joranger and taken from Gards- og ættesoge for Luster Kommune, volume 7, published 2007.
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Testimonials
“Dear Carol, Thanks so much for your help in finding our ties to John Hansen Sørbrøden! My sisters and I had a wonderful trip to Norway. We joined Michael (Bovre's) tour group for two Eidsvoll days and rented a car to visit Berg church and the farm named Sørbrøden. Of course I have more puzzles that could be researched....sometime I will need to get myself organized and send them to you!”
- Karla (Michigan)
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