Norwegian immigration to the United States began in significant numbers during the 19th Century and became one of the largest Scandinavian migration movements in American history. The first organized group of Norwegian immigrants arrived in 1825 aboard the ship Restauration, often called the “Norwegian Mayflower.” Over the following decades, hundreds of thousands of Norwegians left rural Norway for America, especially for the upper Midwest and Great Plains.

In the 19th Century, Norway was largely rural and economically limited. Population growth increased pressure on farmland, while inheritance customs often favored older sons. Many younger people had little chance of acquiring land or economic independence. Fishing communities also faced instability because livelihoods depended heavily on weather and fluctuating markets. Industrialization developed slowly in Norway compared to other European countries, leaving many rural families with limited prospects. America, by contrast, appeared to offer abundant farmland and social mobility.

Letters sent home by earlier immigrants encouraged further migration. These “America letters” described fertile land, economic opportunity, and political freedom. Although such letters sometimes exaggerated success, they created powerful images of America as a place where ordinary laborers could become landowners. Chain migration developed as families and communities followed relatives to established immigrant settlements. This explains why Norwegian communities in the American Midwest often preserved strong regional and linguistic connections.

Religion also shaped Norwegian immigrant culture. Most immigrants belonged to the Lutheran Church, which played a central role in community organization. Churches provided spiritual support, education, and cultural continuity in immigrant settlements. In Giants in the Earth, religion functions as a major aspect of identity and emotional life. Beret’s fears and moral anxieties reflect the intense religious traditions many immigrants carried with them from Norway.

The immigrant experience involved major cultural adjustment. Norway’s social structure emphasized communal traditions, local identity, and familiarity with landscape and climate. Immigrants arriving on the American plains encountered unfamiliar environments and economic systems. The open prairie differed dramatically from the mountains, fjords, and coastal regions of Norway. This environmental difference contributes to the psychological tension in Rölvaag’s novel. The prairie often appears alien and spiritually unsettling to settlers accustomed to more enclosed landscapes.

Norwegian immigrants settled heavily in states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas. Farming communities developed around shared language, religion, and customs. Ethnic newspapers, schools, and colleges helped preserve Norwegian identity. At the same time, immigrants faced pressure to assimilate into American culture. English gradually replaced Norwegian among younger generations, while many immigrant traditions weakened over time.

Norwegian immigrant communities also developed complex attitudes toward American individualism. Traditional Norwegian society emphasized cooperation and communal responsibility, while American frontier culture often celebrated self-reliance and expansion. Settlers on the prairie had to balance cooperation with competition. Community support was necessary for survival, but economic success also depended on personal ambition. These tensions appear repeatedly in Giants in the Earth.

Another important aspect of Norwegian immigration was language. Many immigrants continued speaking Norwegian for decades after arriving in America. Newspapers, churches, and schools operated in Norwegian, especially in the upper Midwest. Rölvaag himself initially wrote Giants in the Earth in Norwegian because he believed the immigrant experience could be expressed more authentically in that language. His use of translated Norwegian speech patterns in the English version helps preserve the rhythms and worldview of immigrant communities.

By the early 20th Century, Norwegian Americans had become increasingly integrated into American society, yet many continued to preserve ethnic traditions. Festivals, churches, literature, and educational institutions maintained connections to Norwegian heritage. Rölvaag wrote during a period when immigrant identity was changing rapidly. His novel therefore functions partly as a historical memory of first generation settlement experiences.