Can’t really make out the spelling, but seems like it refers to the Christian god and «to use the lords gifts» «…og bruge herrens gaver» (written in older Norwegian that resembles danish)
Could you maybe take more pictures of the sentences?
Now, this is my take on understanding what is written, just letter for letter:
“Bed. Tak og bruge Herrens gaber, til de som hand dem dig tillaber S.K.S. A.1800” This bowl is from the 1800s so the Norwegian language has changed a bit (from close to danish to modern Norwegian), so here it is in modern Norwegian:
“Bed. takk og bruke Herrens gaver, til de som han dem deg tillater S.K.S. A.1800”
I believe I am correct in this as I looked at an old document from Stortinget (our Parlement) dated 1851. [A link to the document](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-XQVB9kBftYVszPArWiXslZ08cjHGhuN/view?usp=share_link) (fun fact: it is regarding a proposition to remove a clause in our constitution denying Jews access to our kingdom).By reading through this document I was able to confirm:
* the use of “tillaber” as an old version of “tillater”
* letters like “s” and “t” and “k” which all look very (annoyingly) similar in the inscription.
* the letter “h” in “Herrens” and “hand”
~~I do not know what “Bed.” at the start means. The punctuation mark could mean it’s an abbreviation, but I don’t know. Another possibility is a conjugated form of the verb “å bede” from danish – “to ask” (used in the sense to ask someone to do something, not as in posing/asking a question). But I don’t know how that would fit into the context.~~
“Bed” seems to be the imperative (commanding) tense of the verb *å be* – to pray.
( u/WegianWarrior )
The punctuation mark after “gaber” and before “til” I believe is to indicate a new verse line in the poem (I will come back to this).
“S.K.S” is most likely someone’s initials (From the wiki: most commonly contained inscription of the owner’s initials. Could also possibly be the initials to the maker/painter)
“A.1800” most likely stands for “Anno 1800” meaning “From 1800”. Anno is commonly used in Norway to denote when something was built/started/established etc.
The rest of the sentence, translated word for word to English:
“Thank and use the Lord’s gifts, to those that he they you allows”
Now, this is written in a weird poetic way (The inscriptions of ølboller are usually small poems/written with rhyme), which means that the sentence structure, and context, around “he they you allows” are hard to understand.
A general example of this: A Norwegian poem could be written like this (to match a rhyme) “som han deg tillater” – (translated directly) “that he you allows” but mean “that he allows you”. This way of poetically structuring sentences is common in Norwegian literature and poetry, and I believe this is a complicated form of that with another “layer” to it. To expand my example; it’s not just that he “allows you”, but he “allows you them” – with “them” possibly referring to the gifts or to “those”.
Also from the wiki: towards the end of the 1700s painted ølboller became very popular and over time different local nuances in the decor started to appear. This means that with some further digging you might (I say might because it was just some tendencies and not something very definitive) locate where it originated from geographically. (I don’t know what you know about your Norwegian heritage, but that might be interesting to look into).
And as a final note, these were common in both cities and rural areas, and at this time rural Norway were just farmers, speaking local dialects – not the standard Norwegian based on Danish that is used in the inscription. So the inscription might not be 100% grammatically correct – hence our problems in understanding the sentence structure and full context.
Edit:
Some changes to my interpretation (regarding “bed” and “tak”) after getting a much-needed peer review by u/WegianWarrior and u/Veggdyret 🙂
I believe the start is: pray, thanks and use… (Bed, tak og brug..) … Otherwise as said before. 🙂
[deleted]
Bed, tak og bruge Herrens gaber, til de som hand dem dig tillaber S K S A 1800
I’d say it means: Pray, thank and using (the) Lords gifts, to those (or that which) he allows you (to do). S K S A (initials) 1800 (the year)
The spelling and grammar is old. Today it would be something like: Be, takk og bruk Herrens gaver til det som er Hans vilje. It means: Pray, give thanks and use the Lords gifts according to His will.
Ooh that easy, here:
One bowl to rule them all, one bowl to find them, One bowl to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them; In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
Ahh yes it says Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. It roughly translate to, One bowl to rule them all, One bowl to find them; One bowl to bring them all, and in darkness bind them
I can’t speak to the translation, as others admirably have, but I think the text is a reference to the Bible, specifically 1 Peter 4:10: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
Ask a danish, Norway Washington a part of denmark backer then, so its danish
9 comments
Can’t really make out the spelling, but seems like it refers to the Christian god and «to use the lords gifts» «…og bruge herrens gaver» (written in older Norwegian that resembles danish)
Could you maybe take more pictures of the sentences?
First of all, this is what’s called a “ølbolle” in Norwegian – “beer bowl”. You can read more about it [here](https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%98lbolle) or look at it in a digital museum database [here](https://digitaltmuseum.no/search/?q=%C3%B8lbolle). These bowls commonly contain inscriptions such as yours.
Now, this is my take on understanding what is written, just letter for letter:
“Bed. Tak og bruge Herrens gaber, til de som hand dem dig tillaber S.K.S. A.1800” This bowl is from the 1800s so the Norwegian language has changed a bit (from close to danish to modern Norwegian), so here it is in modern Norwegian:
“Bed. takk og bruke Herrens gaver, til de som han dem deg tillater S.K.S. A.1800”
I believe I am correct in this as I looked at an old document from Stortinget (our Parlement) dated 1851. [A link to the document](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-XQVB9kBftYVszPArWiXslZ08cjHGhuN/view?usp=share_link) (fun fact: it is regarding a proposition to remove a clause in our constitution denying Jews access to our kingdom).By reading through this document I was able to confirm:
* the use of “tillaber” as an old version of “tillater”
* letters like “s” and “t” and “k” which all look very (annoyingly) similar in the inscription.
* the letter “h” in “Herrens” and “hand”
~~I do not know what “Bed.” at the start means. The punctuation mark could mean it’s an abbreviation, but I don’t know. Another possibility is a conjugated form of the verb “å bede” from danish – “to ask” (used in the sense to ask someone to do something, not as in posing/asking a question). But I don’t know how that would fit into the context.~~
“Bed” seems to be the imperative (commanding) tense of the verb *å be* – to pray.
( u/WegianWarrior )
The punctuation mark after “gaber” and before “til” I believe is to indicate a new verse line in the poem (I will come back to this).
“S.K.S” is most likely someone’s initials (From the wiki: most commonly contained inscription of the owner’s initials. Could also possibly be the initials to the maker/painter)
“A.1800” most likely stands for “Anno 1800” meaning “From 1800”. Anno is commonly used in Norway to denote when something was built/started/established etc.
The rest of the sentence, translated word for word to English:
“Thank and use the Lord’s gifts, to those that he they you allows”
Now, this is written in a weird poetic way (The inscriptions of ølboller are usually small poems/written with rhyme), which means that the sentence structure, and context, around “he they you allows” are hard to understand.
A general example of this: A Norwegian poem could be written like this (to match a rhyme) “som han deg tillater” – (translated directly) “that he you allows” but mean “that he allows you”. This way of poetically structuring sentences is common in Norwegian literature and poetry, and I believe this is a complicated form of that with another “layer” to it. To expand my example; it’s not just that he “allows you”, but he “allows you them” – with “them” possibly referring to the gifts or to “those”.
Also from the wiki: towards the end of the 1700s painted ølboller became very popular and over time different local nuances in the decor started to appear. This means that with some further digging you might (I say might because it was just some tendencies and not something very definitive) locate where it originated from geographically. (I don’t know what you know about your Norwegian heritage, but that might be interesting to look into).
And as a final note, these were common in both cities and rural areas, and at this time rural Norway were just farmers, speaking local dialects – not the standard Norwegian based on Danish that is used in the inscription. So the inscription might not be 100% grammatically correct – hence our problems in understanding the sentence structure and full context.
Edit:
Some changes to my interpretation (regarding “bed” and “tak”) after getting a much-needed peer review by u/WegianWarrior and u/Veggdyret 🙂
I believe the start is: pray, thanks and use… (Bed, tak og brug..) … Otherwise as said before. 🙂
[deleted]
Bed, tak og bruge Herrens gaber, til de som hand dem dig tillaber S K S A 1800
I’d say it means: Pray, thank and using (the) Lords gifts, to those (or that which) he allows you (to do). S K S A (initials) 1800 (the year)
The spelling and grammar is old. Today it would be something like: Be, takk og bruk Herrens gaver til det som er Hans vilje. It means: Pray, give thanks and use the Lords gifts according to His will.
Ooh that easy, here:
One bowl to rule them all, one bowl to find them, One bowl to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them; In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
Ahh yes it says Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. It roughly translate to, One bowl to rule them all, One bowl to find them; One bowl to bring them all, and in darkness bind them
I can’t speak to the translation, as others admirably have, but I think the text is a reference to the Bible, specifically 1 Peter 4:10: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
Ask a danish, Norway Washington a part of denmark backer then, so its danish