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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 Jerry, We had a most wonderful trip to Norway. In Rosendal, we talked with a woman named Linda at the Municipal Building who had received my letter. She used the bygdebok to advise us and also gave us the name & address of a man located on the other side of the fjord-in the area our family is from. We were fortunate that he was home and his sister/cousin (can't remember) was visiting & she spoke English. He and his late wife had preserved a number of buildings from the old days that were filled with artifacts and he was happy to show us around. Thank you so much for your help. You opened our eyes to much information, and to how to use the bygdebok to learn more.”
- Sue (Virginia)
Norwegian American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library
415 West Main Street, Madison, WI 53703-3116
(608) 255-2224 | genealogy@nagcnl.org