Roman numerals are used in a variety of Norwegian sources, but it is not difficult to learn this numbering system. Roman numerals are made up by using seven symbols:

I = 1
V = 5
X = 10
L = 50
C = 100
D = 500
M = 1000

Note: The roman numeral system did not include a symbol for 0.
 
 

Roman numerals	Arabic numerals		Roman numerals	Arabic numerals
...	0		L	50
I	1		LI	51
II	2		LII etc.	52 etc.
III	3		LX	60
IV	4		LXI	61
V	5		LXII etc.	62 etc.
VI	6		LXX	70
VII	7		LXXI	71
VIII	8		LXXII etc.	72 etc.
IX	9		LXXX	80
X	10		LXXXI	81
XI	11		LXXXII etc.	82 etc.
XII	12		CX	90
XIII	13		CXI	91
XIV	14		CXII etc.	92 etc.
XV	15		C	100
XVI	16		CC	200
XVII	17		CCC	300
XVIII	18		CCCC or CD	400
XIX	19		D	500
XX	20		DC	600
XXI	21		DCC	700
XXII etc.	22 etc.		DCCC	800
XXX	30		M	1000
XXXI	31		MM	2000
XXXII etc.	32 etc.
XL	40
XLI	41
XLII etc.	42 etc.

In the Middle Ages and later, numerals were often written in lower case letters, and j was often used instead of a final i. For example, the number 2 (II) could be written as ij

A line over a letter denotes that it is multiplied by 1000. For example, a V with a line over it means 5,000, and an X with a line over it means 10,000.

Some sample dates:

MDC 1600
MDCXXX 1630
MDCC 1700
MDCCL 1750
MDCCLXX 1770
MDCCC 1800
 
 

Copyright John Follesdal, Esq.