The Great Hunger Part 39

For the convenience of readers a few points in which Norwegian p.r.o.nunciation differs from English are noted below:

The vowels a, e, and i in the middle of words are p.r.o.nounced much as in Italian.

aa = long o, as in "post" or "pole."

e final is sounded, as in German; thus Louise, Merle, etc.

d final is nearly always elided; thus Raastad = Rosta'.

g before e or i is hard; thus Ringeby, not Rinjeby.

j = the English y; thus Bojer = Boyer, Jens = Yens.

l before another consonant is sounded; thus Holm, not Home.

CURRENCY

The unit of currency in Norway is the crown (krone), which in normal conditions is worth something over thirteen pence, so that about eighteen crowns go to the pound sterling. Thus Peer Holm's fortune in the Savings Bank represented about L100 in English money, and a million crowns is equivalent to about $260,000 in American money.

To avoid enc.u.mbering the reader unnecessarily with the details of Norwegian currency, small amounts have been represented in this translation by their equivalents in English money.