Subtitling · Norwegian
Norwegian subtitling services
Native Norwegian subtitlers for corporate video, eLearning, streaming content, broadcast and advertising. Bokmål and Nynorsk, delivered to platform specification.
About Norwegian subtitling
Bokmål or Nynorsk, decided before anything is written
Norwegian has two official written standards with equal legal status: Bokmål, which derives from written Danish and is used by the large majority, and Nynorsk, built from rural dialects in the nineteenth century and used by a minority concentrated in the west of the country.
For subtitling, this is a decision that has to be made at the brief stage. Commercial content generally uses Bokmål. Public sector material, content for western Norway, and anything with an institutional obligation may require Nynorsk, and some organisations are bound to a quota across their output.
At GoLocalise, we confirm which standard applies before work begins, and every file passes linguistic and technical QA before delivery.
Which do you need?
Open captions, closed captions or SDH
Three different deliverables that people often ask for by the wrong name. Here is the short version.
Open captions
Burnt inSubtitles burnt permanently into the picture. Nobody can switch them off, which is exactly what you want for social feeds that autoplay muted.
- Always visible
- Font, size, colour and position to match your brand
- Delivered as a finished video file
Closed captions
SwitchableA separate file the viewer can turn on and off, and that can carry several languages at once. The standard for YouTube, Vimeo and the streaming platforms.
- Viewer controls them
- Multiple languages from one video
- Indexed by search engines
SDH
AccessibilitySubtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing: dialogue plus speaker IDs and the sound effects and music cues that carry meaning.
- Speaker identification
- Non-dialogue audio described
- Meets accessibility requirements
How can we help you?
Your project manager has everything covered
One point of contact from brief to delivery, and both a linguistic and a technical check on every file.
Brief review
We review your video, your audience, and confirm whether the file should be in Bokmål or Nynorsk.
Template and translation
Where needed we create an English subtitle template first, then send it to a native Norwegian subtitler working in the correct standard.
Timing and quality checks
Subtitles are timed against the video and checked for reading speed, line length, break points, and format compliance.
Delivery
Your subtitle files in the format your platform requires, on budget and on time.
Our standards
The specs we work to
Readable subtitles are a matter of measurable limits, not opinion. These are the defaults we apply to Norwegian unless your style guide says otherwise.
Maximum per line
37 for broadcast delivery
Maximum on screen
Bottom-weighted, centred
Reading speed
Lower for children's content
Minimum duration
Seven seconds maximum
The harder part in Norwegian is not length but source audio. Norway has no standard spoken form, and dialects appear freely in interviews, documentary and broadcast content, differing from the written standards in vocabulary and grammar rather than only in accent. The subtitler renders it into the agreed written standard.
Deliverables
Professional subtitle formats
We adapt your existing translations into subtitle format or create subtitles from scratch, in Norwegian, English or any other language.
Standard text-based
Compatible with most platforms and players.
Broadcast & professional
For broadcasters, post houses and streaming delivery specs.
Burnt-in video
A finished file with the subtitles baked into the picture.
Norwegian specifics
Two written standards and no standard speech
There is no standard spoken Norwegian, and dialects are used freely in broadcast and everyday speech, including by public figures. Subtitlers regularly work from dialect audio that differs substantially from either written standard.
The two standards are not spelling variants of each other. They differ in inflection and vocabulary. A Nynorsk reader understands Bokmål perfectly well, so a single Bokmål file is comprehensible nationwide — but where Nynorsk is required for institutional or regulatory reasons, a Bokmål file does not satisfy it.
And Norwegian is not interchangeable with Danish or Swedish. The three are close enough in speech that clients sometimes assume one file will serve all three. They are separate written languages, with their own spelling, vocabulary and grammar, and each market needs its own version.
Subtitling rates
Professional Norwegian subtitling
For single videos and straightforward content where accurate, well timed subtitles are what you need.
- Native Norwegian subtitler
- Bokmål or Nynorsk
- Frame-accurate timing
For longer content and recurring projects, including transcription, SDH, burned-in subtitles and multiple output formats.
- Everything in Standard
- Transcription and template
- SDH and burnt-in
- Multiple output formats
Every project is quoted individually and backed by our Price Match Promise. Send us your video for an exact, no-obligation quote.
Trusted by global brands
We have used GoLocalise on a regular basis for projects in a number of languages. The service we receive is great. The team is always friendly and professional. The voiceovers we receive are of a very high quality and the turnaround is extremely quick. We are very happy to recommend GoLocalise to other businesses.
It was a pleasure to work with David and the team at GoLocalise. David gave me lots of help and advice, guiding me through my first subtitling project. He really knows his stuff! The experience was completely pain-free. I would not hesitate to recommend GoLocalise – outstanding work at a good price.
They're reliable, adaptive and obsessed with quality. And while you can never be 100% guaranteed of perfection, you can be sure GoLocalise will go the extra mile to get it right every time. We've worked with them now for over 5 years and we are truly thankful to have such a strong localisation partner for our business.
Related services
The rest of your Norwegian project
Most common questions
Bokmål for most commercial content, since it is the standard the large majority of Norwegians write and read. Nynorsk where you are addressing western Norway specifically, where a public sector body has an obligation to use it, or where an organisation applies a quota across its published material. If you are unsure, tell us who the content is for and we will advise.
Ready to subtitle your video in Norwegian?
Send us your video and we'll come back with an exact, itemised quote.
Professional voice over services for your audio and video productions
Voice over
- State-of-the-art studios
- Neumann microphones
- On-hand sound engineers
- 1,000+ voice actors
Translation
- 100+ languages covered
- Tailored to your needs
- Stringent quality control
- Dedicated project managers
Subtitling
- Experienced subtitlers
- Industry-standard software
- Burn-in and graphic editing
- Open and closed captions
Transcription
- Improve accessibility
- Reach a wider audience
- Boost SEO and video views
- Maximise video engagement