Skibladner is one of the world’s oldest paddle steamers still in regular service. She was launched in 1856, and sails on Norway’s largest lake, Mjøsa.
Category page: history
Norwegian railway history | the pioneer era 1851-1868 | Norway
With the birth of the new Norwegian national state in 1814, came big ideas. And one of them was to establish better transportation systems.
Husmann | what is a cotter and a cotter’s holding? | Norway
In the old Norwegian farming society, a husmann was a man who was allowed to build his home on a small section of a farm’s land, and pay with his labour instead of rent.
Christmas | childhood memories from northern Norway
In my childhood, life was simple. And the small joys of Christmas lifted our spirits – and delivered us safely into the new year.
Sami people | the Coastal Sami and their homes | Sapmi
The traditional Sami houses, the goahti, were in use until well into our own time. Anders Larsen tells us how he remembers them from the coastal Sami communities in northern Norway.
Strandsitter | is Norwegian for a beach dweller | Norway
In the coastal districts of the old Norway, a strandsitter was a beach dweller – who rented a small piece of land – but owned the house he built on it. His livelihood was usually connected to the sea.
History timeline | from stone age to modern era | Norway
In this article you will find an introduction to Norway’s 15 main historical eras – from the ice age to our modern day.
Ice-fishing | 7 photos to enjoy | Norway
In the olden days, people dressed up warmly and got out onto the fjord or lake to catch their Sunday dinner. Enjoy!
Folk instruments | the birch trumpet | Norway
One of the oldest Norwegian instruments is the birch trumpet. But is it really an instrument at all – or did it originally have a completely different purpose?
Needlework | 7 photos of a beautiful bonnet | Norway
What beautiful needlework. A bonnet from the collections of the Slottsfjell Museum in the city of Tønsberg.
Homestead | bringing home the winter hay | Norway
On the historical Norwegian farm, winter feed for the domesticated animals was a precious resource. Sometimes it was harvested and temporarily stored far away from the farm.
Folk medicine | as used by the Norwegians | Norway
Do you have trouble sleeping? Here are some examples of how the old Norwegians used Mother Nature’s very own remedies to cure their ailments.
Homestead | cutting marsh grass on the frozen lake | Norway
To make sure he could tide the animals over the long and cold winter, the historical Norwegian farmer utilised all available resources.
History | the sweater from Setesdal | Norway
In a cold country like Norway, warm clothing is essential. This is a refined and old version of a woollen sweater from the district of Setesdal.
Homestead | how to hand-milk the cow | Norway
In 1935, Aslaug Engnæs published a guidance book on how to milk the cow.
Sami people | sleeping on a bed of glowing embers | Sapmi
When there were no makeshift or permanent dwellings nearby, the Sami hunters and herders sometimes slept under the open sky.
Sami people | injustice and the king’s apology | Sapmi
In 1997, His Majesty King Harald V of Norway came to the Norwegian Sami Assembly with an essential and overdue apology.
Vintage photos | the landscape | Norway
The Norwegian landscape is wild and beautiful. And it is a lot more than just fjords and mountains.
Wooden buildings one thousand years old | Norway
The oldest wooden buildings in Norway are almost 1000 years old – like Urnes stave church in Luster. How come these buildings do not rot away and disappear?
Homestead | memories from Langfjordbotn in Finnmark | Norway
Langfjordbotn – in Norway’s northernmost region Finnmark – was the birthplace of Oluf Røde, born in 1889.
Homestead | memories from Værøy in Lofoten | Norway
The wild ocean world of Værøy in Lofoten, Norway, was the birthplace of Mimmi Benjaminsen – born in 1894. Here are some of her childhood memories.
Homestead | making butter the old way | Norway
For the old Norwegians, making butter was simply a way of preserving the fresh summer milk – turning it into a type of food that could be stored.
Vintage photos | the people | Norway
Here is a collection of some wonderful vintage photos, showing a handful of Norwegians and their lives.
Vintage photos | the artwork | Norway
A photo is a snapshot of history – and a story and a history lesson in itself.
Vintage photos | the tools and handicrafts | Norway
Old objects tell stories, silent stories about a time gone by.
Vintage photos | the stave churches | Norway
Some of the beautiful Norwegian wooden stave churches are almost 1000 years old. Today, there are 28 of them left.
Vintage photos | the domestic animals | Norway
Watch some lovely vintage photos of mankinds’s many good friends.
Vintage photos | the folk costumes | Norway
Some vintage photos – and more to come.
Homestead | the old farm and the need for water | Norway
The old Norwegian farm needed hundreds of litres of water every single day: for food-making, cleaning, and human and animal consumption.
Sami people | 12 vintage photos | Sapmi
Here are 12 historical photos representing the fascinating Sami culture – with deep roots in the Norwegian and Nordic landscape.
Vintage photos | the rose painted chests | Norway
The rose painted chests of Norway – a treasure that will live for centuries to come.
The old Norwegians needed no money | Norway
The old Norwegian farming society was a self-sufficient and balanced world. Coins and notes were all but an alien concept.
Homestead | finding Ole Johan Nyaas and his barn | Norway
With this old photograph in my hand I have set myself a task: how much information can I find in Norwegian online archives based on what the photo tells me?
History | wooden drinking bowl – a kjenge | Norway
A kjenge is a drinking bowl used in the old Norwegian farming society – usually with two handles – carved and hollowed out from one piece of wood.
The old Norway | and its last army of storytellers | Norway
The first half of the 1900s came with a momentous change to Norwegian society. The old ways of the ancient hunting and farming culture were rapidly dying.
Folk tales | Pesta and the Black Death | Norway
Folklore and old folk tales often depict The Black Death in the shape of an ashen-faced old woman. Her name was Pesta.
Homestead | moving into the barn during summer | Norway
The first half of the 1900s was a time of enormous change in Norwegian society. It was then that a young boy experienced a peculiar family custom.
A Norwegian’s take on the lead-up to the Black Death | Norway
The Black Death – mother of all plagues – ravaged humankind in the mid-1300s. A Norwegian scholar takes us through the lead up to the disaster.
Homestead | the Sæterhaugen farm saga | Norway
In 1942, Hans Hyldbakk wrote the history of the local cotter’s holdings in Surnadal, Nordmøre, Norway. The book was updated in 1966.
Homestead | the Sortehaug farm saga | Norway
Skodje sogelag and Louis Giske wrote the history of the two Sortehaug farms and its inhabitants back in 1986.
The old Norwegian farm | its land and surroundings | Norway
In this post, we take a look at the layout of the Norwegian farm and its surroundings – and how the land and its resources were utilised.
Homestead | the old farm and the hour of twilight | Norway
The hour of twilight is when the daylight starts to disappear – before it is completely dark. In the old Norwegian farming society, this was a time for rest.
Homestead | the Stornæve farm saga – Trøndelag | Norway
Per O. Rød wrote the history of the Stornæve farm and its inhabitants back in 1968. Decades earlier, several children of Stornæve had emigrated to the US.
Norway and its age-old farming culture | Norway
Once you start taking an interest in the old Norwegian farming and family history, then the people of the past start coming to the fore.
Mystery | 1895: a dead man in the fjord | Norway
It was midsummer 1895. An older man was found drifting in the fjord just outside Moss, Norway – shot in the temple with a revolver. Who was he?
Stabbur | the food storehouse on the old Norwegian farm
Like all buildings on the old Norwegian farm, the stabbur had a clear purpose: it was a building designed for the storage of food.
James Arness | western hero and Norwegian viking | Norway
Are you hailing from Sykkylven in Møre og Romsdal, Norway? Well, then you might be related to the great film and television icon that was James Arness.
Homestead | the ancient tradition of mountain pasture | Norway
For more than a thousand years, Norwegian farmers sent their livestock to feed in the forests and the mountains. Today, this way of life has almost disappeared.