# Norwegian: kiste/skrin



## ordentlig

Hi everyone,

I'm confused by the difference between skrin and kister.  I'm doing some translation on 16-19th century furniture, one sentence is giving a count of the various objects and lumps them together "Det er 8 sengefjøler, 2 stoler, 9 skap eller deler av snap, 5 kister go skrin, 8 lárar..."  is the only distinction that skrin are smaller than kister, as Bokmålsordboka suggests, or is there some other difference?  Thanks!


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## Cerb

This is the case in my mind and some quick googling suggests the same. A box with a fixed lid smaller than a chest. A skrin would typically be used keep valuables and the word can be found in compounds like smykkeskrin (jewelry box)and pengeskrin (a small strongbox). It's also used for a casket that contains a reliquiary. Either "skrin" or "kiste" can be used for this, but some named ones use the word "skrin".

I was about to suggest box=eske, casket=skrin, chest=kiste, but this doesn't seem to be consistent with the usage. If anything I'd say a skrin is generally smaller than a casket.


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## AutumnOwl

I would understand _skrin_ as something one person could carry easily, while it would (usually) take two persons to carry a _kiste._


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## ordentlig

It sounds like context is key to translate these words specifically.  Unfortunately, not much context is given in the text I'm translating, though I don't think the items are caskets or reliquaries (based on the photos, sizes, and descriptions), so I think I'll go with box and chest as my two terms.  Thanks for your help, Cerb and AutumnOwl!  I'll definitely be back with more questions, as this translation has lots of words that barely even show up on Google, let alone dictionaries.


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## AutumnOwl

There is the word _coffer_ in English for a small chest.


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## Cerb

I've often found google image search to be very useful for questions like these. It can give a pretty good idea of what items are described using the words in question. Coffers appear to be generally larger than skrin from what I can tell. Coffer also redirects to "chest (furniture)" on wikipedia for what it's worth.

After doing some more googling the distinction appears to simply come down to size.

edit: Doing searches for "kiste" or "skrin" and combining them with the places they're from might help as well. You should be able to get some pretty exact hits on antiques that way, e.g. "kiste Hardanger".


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## ordentlig

I'm fortunate in that the book I'm doing some translation from also has pictures of many of the objects being described.  The only issue is that even being able to see them, I don't necessarily know what they are!  I can look at a kiste, a skrin, and a lár and they all just look like wooden boxes or chests to me, for instance.  This centuries-old furniture is a whole new vocabulary for me!  Thanks again for your help, AutumnOwl and Cerb!


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## AutumnOwl

Cerb said:


> I've often found google image search to be very useful for questions like these. It can give a pretty good idea of what items are described using the words in question. Coffers appear to be generally larger than skrin from what I can tell. Coffer also redirects to "chest (furniture)" on wikipedia for what it's worth.


I don't see why a _skrin_ can't be a bit larger, I have a _syskrin_ that is about 40 x 50 cm, not so dainty but still small enough for me to carry.


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## Cerb

AutumnOwl said:


> I don't see why a _skrin_ can't be a bit larger, I have a _syskrin_ that is about 40 x 50 cm, not so dainty but still small enough for me to carry.


Yes, I agree. The naming might come down to what it's used for rather than actual size. I still think it's safe to assume a _skrin_ to generally be smaller than a _kiste _however.

I suggest making another topic for "lár". I think that's going to be an even harder nut to crack


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## ordentlig

Haha, it's such an awkward word to translate into English!  Right now, I'm debating between 'wool box,' 'wool container,' and 'wool storage container.'  Not exactly the smoothest-sounding terms, but oh well.


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