Most of the Norwegian population has throughout history lived off the land. In 1872, 87 % of the population lived outside of the cities. They were mostly farmers and fishermen. Often, they had more than one occupation to supplement their income. In addition to farming and fishing they might work in the forest or practice some kind of handicraft like joinery or working as a blacksmith.

What are the terms we use for the occupation or status of a farmer in previous times?

• Bonde (an independent farmer and landowner)
• Leilending (a tenant farmer)
• Innerst (a person who rented a dwelling on the land)
• Husmann (a smallholder or cottar)

A farm would often be situated in the countryside some distance from other farms. In the mountainous western part of Norway, they would more often be clustered together.

There are usually several buildings (bygninger) on a farm. On the largest farms one would find a separate building for every purpose. The houses were built of wood. An example is a farm in the central part of Norway, it has 17 buildings.

The different buildings could for example be (the list is longer):

Living quarters (våningshus), the main farmhouse

Living quarters for the parents of the owner or the former owners of the farm who were pensioners, to use a modern expression (Kaarstue)

A one-room building with a fireplace and stove for baking and cooking, brewing beer, washing clothes and similar tasks. (Bryggerhus/eldhus)

A farm storehouse (Stabbur)

Cowshed (Fjøs)

Barn (Låve)

Woodshed (Vedbod)

A cabin in the mountain pasture (Sæter)

The land on a farm woukld be divided into two areas

Innmark - cultivated land

Utmark – all other areas, like forest, beaches, mountain, moorland, water and more.

 

Some legal terms used in conjunction with a farm are:

Odel – an inheritance law that ensured that the farm could be kept in the family

Skifte – probate

Makeskifte – exchange of parts of land or a whole farm

Teig – a parcel of land, at some distance from the rest of the property

Teigblanding – distribution of land (the farms were divided into many parts due to marriages and inheritance)  

Utskiftingene – a consensus where farmers agreed upon a new division of farming land.

Do you want to learn more about Norwegian genealogy, read our book: Exploring Norwegian Genealogy.

Here is another blogpost with other words you might come across and need an explanation for.