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Tag Archives: Vikings

Christmas in Norway Posted by on Dec 24, 2021

Hurra, det er jul! (Hooray, it’s Christmas!) For billions of people, that means glede (joy) and spending time with familien (the family). But what is special about the høytid (feast, literally ’high time’) in Norway? Jul [yool] is a very old tradition in Norge – in fact, even the Vikings had a party this time…

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Two Ways of Giving Posted by on Dec 17, 2020

Jula er ei tid for gaver og kos. (Christmas is a time for gifts and cosiness!) Have you bought all your presents yet? While many of us are still pondering to whom to give what, let’s look at the Norwegian grammar of giving. The Norwegian verb å gi [aw yee] is historically related to the…

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What’s Up with Norway and Vikings? Posted by on Sep 30, 2020

I don’t know if the TV series Vikings created a lot of Norwegian learners. Still, since it first aired (2013), many people around the world have become curious about the fierce Scandinavian warriors. No, you can’t chat to them. But 2020 Norwegian wouldn’t be there without their input, so let’s revisit vikingene. (I should say…

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Counties in the Mix Posted by on Feb 28, 2020

Heisann og hoppsann! When Norwegians woke up after this year’s nyttårsfeiring (New Year celebrations), the map of the country had changed. (No, it wasn’t because of a collective champagne bakrus – hangover…) In the beginning of 2020, the number of Norwegian fylker (”counties”) officially went from 18 to 11, and a lot of people suddenly…

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Describing Looks Posted by on Jan 31, 2019

Hvordan ser han/hun ut? How does he/she look? You might not carry around photos of everyone you know in mobilen din (your mobile phone), so now and then you’ll need ord (words) to describe somebody’s utseende (appearance, literally ”out-looking”). Høy, lav, stor, kraftig, liten, tykk, tynn (tall, short, big, strongly built, small, thick/stout, thin) –…

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Fjords and Mountains ahoy! Posted by on Jan 31, 2018

Ut på tur, aldri sur! (Out on a trip, never sulky!) Yes, Norway is sometimes a very wet and cold place. Still, most Norwegians and tourists agree the country has something very special – fjord og fjell (fjord and mountains). When the Vikings were making poetry, they loved to pair words starting with the same…

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Your name is what? Posted by on Apr 21, 2017

Hva heter du? (What’s your name?) Jeg heter… (My name is…) Talking about navn (name/s) is important when making new friends. Let’s look at Norwegian naming traditions! Ola & Kari Nordmann are like the Norwegian versions of Uncle Sam – a man and a woman representing the ”typical” nordmann (Norwegian). Like all nordmenn, they have a…

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