Norwegian Parish Records and Censuses Online

To see Norwegian Parish Records online go to Arkivverket Online Records
Wilda Obey has provided detailed instructions how to use the site. 

How to Use the Site
Arkivverket Online Records

This takes you to digitized parish registers. If you cannot get to the site from the address above, try typing in Norwegian digital arkiv, or Norwegian archives at a search engine to get there.

At digitised parish registers select from the scroll of 20 counties and cities. When you select a county it will automatically go to the list of all of its parishes with years of the registers. Select a parish at the date that you wish. That will automatically go to the contents page, which often lists baptisms, marriages, burials, vaccinations, confirmations, and emigration by year. Select one category.

This will automatically go to the category you chose. There one of the top lines is a light purple and has the title user options. There you can choose to view the page in one of 5 sizes, from reduced to larger than the original. Viewing at 60% works best for my printer, to get the whole two pages on one 11 by 8 inch paper. 150% will make it easier to read. Just below the purple line is the line with forward arrow, or forward 5 or 20, and also the backward arrows. This line is repeated at the bottom of the church register page. You can click the forward arrow until you find the entry you want to see.

When you finish looking at those pages, if you click contents it will go back to that church register first page. If you click my selection it will go back to the county you chose. If you click new selection it will go back to the original digitised parish registers page.

The parish registers are the actual photograph of the original page. They are written in Norwegian with some Latin words. The later registers have preprinted columns and titles.

For baptismal records the year usually will be written at the top of the page. The left hand column is the chronological number of that baptism for that year, starting with #1. Usually the next column will be the birth date, and the next column is the baptism date, then the child's name, next whether it is a legitimate birth, next the parents' names and residence. Next, usually on the second page, are the baptism sponsors, often 5 in number, with the oldest or most important man listed first, then the other men, and then the women. There may be a column for stating if there was a home baptism and by whom. There may be a last column for remarks, such as explaining why the parents aren't married. Some baptism records separate the boys from the girls, either with the boys on the left page and the girls on the right, or with the boys at the top of the page and girls at the bottom.

Marriage records list the year, and the chronological number of that marriage for that year, then the groom's name, then the bride's. Most give their ages or birth dates, birthplaces and/or residences, then fathers' names, then the two male sponsors. Often there will be a listing of the three dates of the banns (when the forthcoming marriage was announced in church). The last column is the vaccinations dates, and sometimes there are remarks, such as when the first spouse died. Usually the marriage records list the man as a bachelor = ungkarl, or its abbreviation ungk, and the woman as pige = unmarried woman. Or it will list if either is a widower or widow, sometimes abbreviated enk or e.

For burials, listed by year, chronological number, person's name, age or birth date, residence, and sometimes cause of death is given. The first date is the date of death, and the second is the burial date. If there is a third date it is when the pastor was there and entered the data in the register (which might be weeks after the burial). If there is a - in the burial column, the body was not buried in the church yard. Some were lost at sea. Sometimes male and female burial listings are separated. In some it may give the father's name for a child, or the husband's name for a woman.

Censuses. To get to censuses from the first page you came to, click The Digital Archives (or by selecting new selection from the church registers). Select a year - 1801, 1865, 1875, 1900, and then select a county. It will automatically go to the county and its subdivisions. Choose one. The censuses are transcribed and not the actual census page. The instructions and some of the data is in English, and most of the censuses have a page of explanation of abbreviations, and translations. You can search by farm name, or a person's first or last name, or birth year, etc. It is best to list only the first letter, or the first few letters, as spelling varies. The census page usually lists the farm name, its parish and county at the top line. It will give the number of cattle, bee hives, etc. Then it lists the household members, usually starting with the male head of household, his age or birth date, if married or unmarried or a widower, his occupation, and birthplace. Then it lists his wife, children, and other members of the household, such as servants, parents or siblings.

Other online sites for Norway can be found from any search engine, wikipedia, CyndisList, Google Earth and many other sites. 

Some favorites are:

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~norway/index.html 

 Ancestors from Norway by John Follesdal, has how to do Norwegian genealogy, history, explanation of and where to find bygdeboks, vocabulary lists, etc., and links.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~wgnorway/index.html 

 Norway genealogy by Linda Schwartz, has a variety of subjects and links.

http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/ is a question and answer format on a variety of topics, such as What did Vikings eat?

http://www.norwayheritage.com/ is mostly on emigration.

http://www.pinecogen.org/ our Pine County Genealogical Society, has links to mostly U.S. sources. Click on research, then click on other genealogy sites. There the Minnesota Historical Society has their catalog, birth and death certificate indexes, photograph collection, etc. The Iron Range Research Center is a good source for naturalization records which one may photocopy while at their center or at the MN Historical Society. Dalby database has many pages on Norwegians listed in cemeteries, obituaries, newspaper articles, etc.