Koselig: the Norwegian art of coziness

Before we dive a bit further into the concept of koselig, we want to share that Season 11 of Norskpodden has officially started! Norskpodden is a free Norwegian language resource, so when you are not doing your online Norwegian course, why not give the podcast a listen?
You can listen to it here: https://lingu.no/podcast
Or find it on any other streaming platform!

The art of koselig

Koselig is a Norwegian word that means more than just "cozy"; it describes a feeling of warmth, contentment, and pleasantness that can be applied to situations, people, or environments!

With the days getting shorter in fall and winter depression potentially sneaking up on you, it becomes even more important to create comfortable and koselig moments during this season.
It’s a way to make the best out of the dark times while we wait for those long, bright summer nights again!

So let me give you a quick beginner kit for koselig:

1 – Noe varmt å drikke (something warm to drink)
This can be kaffe (coffee), kakao (hot chocolate), te (tea), or gløgg (mulled wine — you can make it with or without alcohol).

2 – Tepper (blankets)
Find the fluffiest, most comfortable, cozy blanket you can, and bundle up.

3 – Lys (lights)
Lighting can do wonders for the atmosphere! Turn the lights down or off and light some stearinlys (candles), or maybe use a lyslenke (string light) with warm tones. And if you have fancy dimmers — dim the lights!

4 – En koselig aktivitet (a cozy activity)
This can be å lese en bok (to read a book), or if you’re like me, tegneserier (comics) work just as well. You can also watch your favorittfilm eller tv-serie (favorite movie or TV series).
If you want to be social, invite some friends over and play brettspill (board games)!

Once you try these four things, you’ll get a pretty good sense of what koselig feels like. Enjoy the moment, you’re making the best out of the darker days!

Examples of "koselig" used in sentences:

- Anne er ei koselig dame
​(Anne is a koselig woman, someone pleasant and warm to be around)
​
​- I går var jeg på filmkveld med venner. Det var koselig
​(Yesterday I was at a movie night with friends. It was koselig. The people and experience was pleasant and made you feel content and cozy).
​
​- Kafeen på hjørnet er koselig
​(The cafe at the corner is koselig. It has a warm, pleasant atmosphere. Maybe the people and vibes there are just really nice and comfy!)

Other examples of things that can be koselig include spending quality time with your family, meeting friends you haven’t seen in a long time, or taking time to spoil yourself and do something you truly love. Going to your favorite café to read a book, lighting candles, and watching a movie with your partner… the list is endless! So there’s really no excuse not to do something koselig this season.

Words to learn this month:

Here are some words you can learn for this month. They’re all connected to koselig (if you’re brave, you can make anything koselig, trust me!)

🌌“Nordlys” - The northern lights
If you live in northern Norway, november is a really good month to see the northern lights! They can sometimes be visible further south as well. There are apps and websites to track nordlys aktivitet - northern lights activity.

🔥 “Å fyre i peisen” - Firing a fire in the fireplace
If you have a fireplace, we're entering the prime time of using it. Å fyre i peisen is what we say when we light the fire in our fireplaces. It is practical to keep your home warm, but can also feel koselig and peaceful.
(Å fyre - to light up something , peisen - fireplace)

📺 “Julekalender” - Christmas calendar
December has just started and so has the christmas calendars. A way of counting down the days to christmas! They can appear as candy calendars, gift calendars and even TV-series (with new episodes each day).
(Jule = Christmas, kalender = calendar.)

You can also put the word “jule” in front of many regular nouns to make them Christmassy. For example:

• pynt – decoration

• julepynt – Christmas decoration

• tre – a tree

• juletre – Christmas tree

• kake – cake

• julekake – Christmas cake or Christmas cookies

It’s a fun and easy way to recognize Christmas-related words in Norwegian!

 

We hope you have a wonderful month! And don’t forget to eat fish or take vitamin D supplements, they can do wonders for your mind during these long, dark nights!