Currency of Norway 500 Norwegian Kroner note 1999
Central Bank of Norway - Norges Bank
Obverse: The motif is a portrait of Sigrid Undset as a young woman. The rosette on the left was inspired by one of her lace collars and encompasses a number of security features. The background is based on Gudbrandsdal tapestries, in particular a pattern where the cross figures prominently. The watermark area contains a double cross.
Designed by graphic designer Sverre Morken.
Reverse: "The Bridal Wreath" is the title of the first book in Undset's trilogy about Kristin Lavransdatter. The author used the wreath to symbolise secular and spiritual love. A tapestry pattern from Gudbrandsdalen provides the background for the wreath.
Designed by graphic designer Arild Yttri.
Size in mm: 152 x 75. Issued 7 June 1999. Notes with annual figures from 2008 (printed abroad) have a letter in front of the serial number.
The banknote contains a portrait of Sigrid Undset. When the banknote is held up to the light, the watermark, a portrait of Sigrid Undset, and the security thread are clearly visible. The watermark, a single portrait identical to the main portrait, emerges in dark various shades of brown. On the new banknotes, you can feel a variation in the thickness of the paper along the watermark. When the banknote is held up to the light, you can see the security thread with the text NORGES BANK.
Norwegian Banknotes - Norway Paper Money
1994-2013 Issue
50 Kroner 100 Kroner 200 Kroner 500 Kroner 1000 Kroner
Sigrid Undset
Sigrid Undset (20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Norwegian novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.
Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924, she converted to Roman Catholicism. She fled Norway for the United States in 1940 because of her opposition to Nazi Germany and the German occupation, but returned after World War II ended in 1945.
Her best-known work is Kristin Lavransdatter, a trilogy about life in Scandinavia in the Middle Ages, portrayed through the experiences of a woman from birth until death. Its three volumes were published between 1920 and 1922. Undset's Nobel Prize was awarded partly for this work, and partly for her four-volume work The Master of Hestviken, published between 1925 and 1927 and dealing with similar themes.