{"id":400,"date":"2016-02-02T13:12:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T12:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/?p=400"},"modified":"2025-12-17T08:38:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T07:38:42","slug":"gothic-handwriting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinroe.com\/blog\/gothic-handwriting\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Read Gothic Handwriting \u2014 Part 1: Background (Old Norwegian Records)"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you do Norwegian genealogy, sooner or later you\u2019ll run into Gothic handwriting<\/strong> (often called \u201cGothic script\u201d or \u201cblackletter-style handwriting\u201d) in scanned sources\u2014especially Norwegian church books (kirkeb\u00f8ker)<\/strong>. In this series, I\u2019m sharing a beginner-friendly, practical approach to learning how to read it, one step at a time.<\/p>\n

Gothic script grew out of earlier Latin handwriting traditions, and by the later Middle Ages, it became widely used across Europe. Over time, it developed regional styles and \u201cfaster hands,\u201d which is why real-life records rarely look like a tidy textbook alphabet. (HMML School of Manuscript Studies, n.d.)<\/p>\n

<\/span>Why Gothic handwriting looks \u201cbroken\u201d and angular<\/span><\/h2>\n

One reason Gothic handwriting can look so difficult is the writing tool itself. Early Gothic letterforms were often written with broad-nib pens<\/strong>. When the pen is pulled in certain directions, the stroke becomes thick; when it moves sideways, the line becomes thin. That contrast makes the script look tall, narrow, and sharply angled<\/strong>, with many vertical strokes packed closely together.<\/p>

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In this article<\/div>\n
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