Has Norway's new king been given the correct Romen numeral? Is he VIII or IX? Or the 8th?

Norway’s new king, King Haakon, is number 8, VIII, and IIX all at once.

But one of the Roman numerals is considered poor Latin, Science Norway has been informed by Tor Ivar Østmoe.

Østmoe is an associate professor of Latin at the University of Oslo.

We asked him about both the usage and spelling of Roman numerals following royal names.

"It’s a very old tradition. It dates back to the popes. Latin was, after all, the official and administrative language in Europe for a long time, both within the Catholic Church and in European states," he says.

You may have seen them before. They’re one of the few places where we still encounter Roman numerals in modern life: so-called regnal numbers.

And those can still be written using Roman numerals.

A numeral system that was once part of everyday life in the Roman Empire.

"It's a fascinating example of a very long tradition, stretching all the way from the Roman Empire to the present day,” says Østmoe.

Haakon VII, Olav V, or Harald V. This number indicates the monarch's place in the royal lineage and succession.

But given how rarely we use Roman numerals these days, are there other ways to use them?

Should it be Haakon IIX instead? This is an alternative way of writing the number 8, compared to the official Haakon VIII.

Standardised

Norway’s new king could have been called Haakon IIX in the Middle Ages, according to historian Bjørn Bandlien from the University of South-Eastern Norway.

"It's not at all unusual to see it written that way in the Middle Ages, but it has now been standardised. There was a lot of odd spelling back then,” he says.

There was no Latin language council dictating exactly how numbers should be written, but a standard has since evolved.

And Østmoe has no doubt: Norway’s King Haakon is using the correct numeral.

"In our time, it would be unthinkable to deviate from established practice in such an official context," Østmoe tells Science Norway.

He also finds VIII more aesthetically pleasing than IIX.

So perhaps the use of IIX can be consigned to the dark corridors of history.

But perhaps not if you are going to carve it into stone?

Stone or parchment?

First, a reminder about Roman numerals: I is 1, V is five, and X is ten. There are others, but they have not yet come into use when it comes to kings and queens.

There simply have not been enough of them yet.

The numbers are combined using an additive and subtractive system. II is two, III is three, while IV is four.

"Smaller numbers before larger numbers mean subtraction; smaller numbers after larger numbers mean addition," says Østmoe.

The sequence of numbers has developed through centuries of custom and usage. In the standard way of writing them, VIII is the correct form.

VIII is therefore the only number between 1 and 10 that consists of four symbols.

"It depends on what kind of surface you are going to use," says Østmoe.

He points out that if you are going to carve the number into stone, it might be easier to use IIX.

"Carving stone is expensive and labour-intensive, so you can see that shorter forms were used on stone," he says. "In that case, you want to make it as easy as possible. You can get away with carving four lines."

But not with VIII. That requires five, since the V requires two strokes. Østmoe argues that it might have been easier to write VIII with some form of pen on parchment or paper.

In any case, this eventually became the standard.

Magnus IV

Kings did not always have regnal numbers, nor was it common for them to assign such numbers to themselves. Instead, they had nicknames, which you can read more about on Science Norway. 

Kings of the past began to be given regnal numbers in the 16th century, according to the Great Norwegian Encyclopaedia.

But one king set the standard: Magnus IV the Lawmender in the 13th century.

He referred to himself as Magnus the Fourth, Bjørn Bandlien tells Science Norway.

“It's a way of showing who was recognied as a king,” he says.

This was after the Norwegian civil war period, a time when there were several rival kings. Numbering became a way to demonstrate power. You can read more about the civil wars on Science Norway.

Magnus signed historical documents as 'the Fourth,' according to historian Eldbjørg Haug in an article for the newspaper Dag og Tid (link in Norwegian).

Nowadays, the regnal number is part of a king's official identity. The choice between Arabic and Roman numerals is optional, and kings are referred to using both.

In King Harald’s monogram, for instance, you can see both an H and the number 5.

Roman and Arabic numerals are used interchangeably, and the usage varies depending on the context.

"If you look at the Great Norwegian Encyclopaedia, you will find Arabic numerals," history professor Bandlien tells Science Norway. "I use Roman numerals because that is what was used in the Middle Ages."

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Translated by Nancy Bazilchuk

Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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