Norwegian Ancestor Kittel Guttormsen (c1758-1836) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 46) Theme: "Different Language"

 Having more than 50% Norwegian ancestry, it was clear to me from the beginning that at some point I would be faced with researching in Norwegian.  It turned out to be not only manageable but fairly accessible, even to someone with little knowledge of the language.

Complications with the Norwegian language arose because of Norway's history of being controlled by Denmark for several centuries until 1814. For a long time, Norwegian was much like Danish and then another version developed to move away from Danish and be more distinctly Norwegian. This resulted in a couple of variations of the Norwegian language, which have subsequently moved into a single form. As a result, modern Norwegian usage may be quite different from that found in the old church records. 

Another thing that distinguishes Norwegian is that is has 29 letters to its alphabet rather than the 26 we have in English. The additional three letters are all vowels (æ, ø and å) and occur after "z" - something to always keep in mind when searching an index for a word in alphabetical order! Although these additional Norwegian vowels do not appear on most keyboards, there are codes for getting these letters to type in computer programs.

To add additional challenge, the old style Gothic writing in the kirkebøker (church books) varies considerably in legibility and, even with the best penmanship, can be difficult to decipher.  See some examples further below.

Notwithstanding these challenges, it is important to recognize that you don't need to be fluent in a language to be able to read basic records. You can quickly pick up the basic words relating to gender, number, birth and baptism (døpte), marriage (viede, copulerede), death (døde), burial (begravede), censuses (folketellinger). Often, there is some similarity of the Norwegian word to its English counterpart.

In addition to using an online translator such as Google Translate, a Norwegian-English Dictionary can come in handy. Remember that you might find a Danish-English Dictionary of more use in some cases. For most basic research, a list of the usual Norwegian words used in genealogy is sufficient, such as the one at the Family Search wiki (see Resources below). 

English-Norwegian-Danish Dictionary compiled by Haldor Hanson, Chicago:
John Anderson Publishing Co., Publishers Skandinaven, 1912

Because the state Lutheran Church was mandated to keep all the vital records for Norway, excellent records are available well back into the 1600s. When I first started researching my Norwegian ancestors, it was necessary to scroll patiently through microfilms, sometimes several for each parish, by ordering them from Salt Lake City. Subsequently, most church records and several censuses have been freely obtainable online from the National Archives of Norway (Arkivverket). 

I have conducted research on dozens of my Norwegian ancestors with the very basic Norwegian language skills I have picked up. As an example, this week's story will focus on one of my mother's Norwegian paternal ancestors. 

Kittel Guttormsen is my 4X great grandfather. Norwegian naming practices also vary from what we are used to in the English/American world where we tend to have a given first name, sometimes a middle name and always a surname, usually passed down from the father. In Norway, there was a given name and a patronymic name based on adding the suffix "sen" or "datter" to the father's first name.  Just from his name, we know that Kittel Guttormsen's father's first name was Guttorm. To get away from the problem of so many names being essentially the same, individuals could be differentiated by adding their (farm) location as an identifier. Hence, Kittel is sometimes known as Kittel Guttormson Opsahl. To add to the confusion, however, if a person moved during his lifetime, that part of the name changed accordingly!

Kittel was the second child born to Guttorm Bjørnsen Nareim and his wife Siri Kittelsdatter Mjøseng. (We can see that Kittel was named for his maternal grandfather, a common practice.)  At the time of his birth in about 1758, his father was farming Nareim farm in Sigdal parish, Buskerud. Kittel was baptized there on 15 July 1759.

Døpte (Baptism) record for Kittel Guttormsen from the Sigdal Kirkebok

In 1778, Kittel's father bought half of the Nedre Opsal farm in Lier parish some 30 miles distance from Nareim farm in Sigdal parish. After the father's death in 1784, widowed mother Siri transferred half this land to Kittel and the other half to his brother Gullik. The farm book describes a lot of financial transactions, including mortgage loans and payments made, values for the property and earnings. Apparently there was a mill on the property valued at 500 dlr. 

On 24 July 1792, Kittel married Johanne Nilsdatter.

Copulerede (marriage) record for Kittel and Johanne from the Lier Kirkebok

The land transactions  remained convoluted and continued over the years. Complex descriptions in Norwegian are definitely beyond my current skill level with the language. The Farm Book describes the following according to Google Translate:

In 1792, Kittel sold in 1796 from a fehage, 1 lp.m which lay on the north side of the garden. In 1801, along with a part of Klemmetsdal, Gullik sold a small piece of wood, "located at the top of Opsalfjellet", to Asle Nilsen from Strømso. The owners of this piece of wood should answer 6 divorces. Annually, "all-time owners of Garden Opsal." In 1804, Kittel digged on Gullik's part of the garden for 600 dlr, and then took the mortgage for the entire purchase price. In the beginning of the 1800s he entered into contact with the other users at Nedre Opsal regarding the dragon horse . Kittel took a mortgage loan of 100 spd. In 1819. The following year, debt grew by 170 spd. In 1823 he issued a joint for 800 spd. and the livestock of the son Gunder Kittelsen. . .

You can see Google Translate does not provide a nice comprehensible translation. Norwegian friend Ragnild assures me that Norway does not have dragon horses and this should have probably been translated as a draw horse for pulling loads. Goodness knows what answering 6 divorces really should have said!

Aside from all these property transactions, Kittel and Johanne also raised their family. They had sons Gunder (my 3X great grandfather) and Nils and daughters Ingebor, Siri, and Anne. 

Gunder and  Johanne and their first three children show up in the 1801 Norwegian census living at Opsahl farm in Lier, Buskerud.

Folketellinger (census) from 1801 for Lier, Buskerud

Kittel died 25 February 1836 and was buried at Tranbye on 10 March. 

Døde og begravede (death and burial) Lier Kirkebok 1836
accessed from the Norwegian Digital Archives

Understanding just a few basic words in Norwegian took us all the way from Kittel's baptism to his burial. Now I must expand my language skills to figure out what that translation about the 6 divorces really meant!

Some Resources:

• FamilySearch.org research wiki for aids to researching in Norway, accessible online at https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Norway_Genealogy and for a list of the more common Norwegian words used in genealogy at https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Norwegian_Genealogical_Word_List
• Thomsen, Finn A., Genealogical Maps & Guide to Norwegian Parish Registers, Thomsen's Genealogical Center P.O. Box 588, Bountiful Utah 84010, 1988
• Norwegian Digital Archives accessible online at https://www.digitalarkivet.no/en/
• Bjerkås, Ola, Liers Historie Bind III Gårdhistorie, Utgitt av Lier Bygdeboknemnd (Farm Book for Lier, Buskerud)