Norway Handwriting

Norway Handwriting Helps

Parish Registers Pre - 1814

 * Birth and Christening
 * Confirmation
 * Engagement
 * Marriage
 * Death and Burial

Parish Registers Post - 1814

 * Birth and Christening
 * Confirmation
 * Engagement
 * Marriage
 * Death and Burial
 * Moving-in List
 * Moving-out List

= Language Characteristics =

Norwegian Genealogical Word List

Variant Forms of Words
In Norwegian, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how they are used in a sentence. Who—whose—whom or marry—marries— married are examples of words in English with variant forms. The endings of a word in a document may differ from those in this list. For example:

Mann man Kone wife Mannen the man Kona the wife Menn men Koner wives Mennene the men Konene the wives

Alphabetical Order
Written Norwegian has three letters not found in the English alphabet: Æ (æ), Ø (ø), and Å (å). In most record sources prior to 1915, Å (å) is written as Aa (aa) and filed at the beginning of the alphabet. Modern Norwegian dictionaries, indexes, the Locality section of the Family History Library Catalog, and this word list use the following alphabetical order:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z æ ø å

Spelling
Spelling was not standardized when most early records were made. The following spelling variations are common:

Examples:

Genealogy Key Words
In order to find and use specific types of Norwegian records, you will need to know some key words in Norwegian. This section lists key genealogical terms in English and the Norwegian words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Norwegian words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used in Norwegian records to indicate marriage.