A lot of background information can be found on the Internet pertaining to genealogy. Is it just boring history or is it entertainment? It probably depends on the viewers’ interests.

One important site is Digital rikssamling, the national digital collection of cultural heritage projects in Norway, and it can in some ways be compared to Digitalarkivet (The Digital Archives) since they are both funded by the government and maintain a high profile in what they publish.

We have previously explored Oslo Havn 1798 (Oslo harbor in 1798) on the webinar “Mondays with Myrt”.

A game has now been launched called Nåløyet (literally “The eye of the needle”). It is set in Christiania (= Oslo) in 1820 and is about women, clothes and capitalism. Developers, historians and illustrators from the company Tidvis AS explore how history can be told in new ways, using interactive technology. They rely on historians with expert knowledge of the 1820s here.

Madam Linds Sye-Salong (Mrs Lind’s sewing shop), where a dress can be made, is now available, while Fru Sems Valg (Mrs Sem’s choices) and Piken Annas Dilemma (Young Anna’s dilemma) will be launched later this year. They will all be found here: https://www.naloyet.tidvis.no/om-naaloyet. Click on a picture to select a story.

But back to Digital rikssamling, with four projects in addition to Oslo Havn 1798:

• Digitale Tautra. Tautra was a Norwegian monastery built around the year 1200, situated in the Trondheim fjord. This website provides both a 360-degree sightseeing tour and a game, as well as a lot of background information.
• Bergen Anno 1320. Until 1830, Bergen was Norway’s largest city. This site is very rich in content and shows a 360-degree views of rooms, buildings and areas of the city as it was then.
• Veøya: Ein bit av historia. Veøya is an island north of Bergen and this island is one of three that will be presented on this site. They will represent both Viking and medieval times in the county of Møre and Romsdal. The one from Veøya is from the years 900-1000.
• Oslo 1324. This project aims to visualize what it looked like in medieval times in Oslo. Here you can find a film, a 360-degree tour and a game.  

All these sites will give you a better understanding of the relevant period of history. And they might help enrich the story you want to tell about your Norwegian ancestry. (Remember that you can change the language in a Chrome browser. Right-click on the mouse and select Translate.)