Coronations were held in Norway from 1164 to 1906, mostly in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. Although a crowning ceremony was formerly mandated by the nation's constitution, this requirement was eliminated in 1908. However, Norwegian kings have since chosen voluntarily to take part in a ritual of "benediction" to mark their accession to the throne, during which the crown is present, but not physically bestowed upon the sovereign. The new ceremony retains some of the religious elements of earlier rites, while eliminating other features now considered to be "undemocratic". There is no law preventing a coronation from occurring so any future monarch of Norway can choose to have one.

The first coronation in Norway—and in all of Scandinavia—took place in Bergen in 1163 or 1164. These rites continued in the Old Cathedral there until the capital was moved to Oslo under Haakon V of Norway. While some crownings were held in Oslo thereafter, most took place at Nidaros Cathedral, in Trondheim. Norwegian kings had historically been proclaimed (konungstekja in Old Norse) at the Øyrating in Trondheim, starting with Harald Fairhair or Haakon the Good in the 10th century; this continued even after the tradition of coronations began. Sometimes this led to competing claims: King Sverre, for example, was hailed as king at Øyrating in 1177, but not crowned until well after the death of King Magnus V in 1184. Ultimately, the coronation rite replaced the konungstekja ceremonies altogether until the resurrection of the latter in the modern benediction service.

In the late 14th century, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark were united in the Kalmar Union. During this era, monarchs were crowned in all three countries consecutively. After the federation was dissolved, Norway remained unified with Denmark under the Danish king until 1814. After the introduction of autocracy in Denmark in 1660, no further coronations took place in Norway until after the advent of the Constitution of Norway in 1814 and the Swedish Union, which took place during that same year. Throughout the Danish Union, the king of Denmark-Norway only went through one ceremony, in Denmark, in which he placed the crown upon his own head and was anointed.

The current constitution of Norway (1814) originally required the monarch to be crowned in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. No coronation took place in the few months Christian Frederick was king of Norway, and Charles II, the first Swedish king of Norway under the new union, never visited the country during his reign and thus was never crowned. Once Charles III had ascended the throne, this rite resumed in accordance with the new constitution. While the Norwegian ritual closely followed the Swedish rite, the anointing of the king on the forehead and right wrist corresponded more closely to the Danish usage.

In September 1818, Charles III John was crowned in the first Norwegian coronation since 1660, providing a set of regalia for this purpose. His son Oscar had a Swedish coronet set upon his head and took the oath as crown prince. His wife, Désirée Clary, was in France at this time. Regalia for the queen was commissioned in 1830 for Desirée's intended coronation in Norway, but the ceremony never occurred. When Oscar and his wife, Josephine of Leuchtenberg, became king and queen, they were crowned in Sweden. Oscar's separate Norwegian coronation ceremony was delayed several times and ultimately never occurred, as the Bishop of Nidaros refused to crown the Queen unless she first abandoned her Roman Catholic faith and converted to Norway's official religion, Evangelical Lutheranism. The next coronation was that of Charles IV and Louise of the Netherlands in 1860. This was the first coronation of a Norwegian queen in several centuries. Oscar II and Sophia of Nassau were crowned in 1873.

The Swedish union was abolished in 1905, at which time Norway elected Prince Carl of Denmark, who took the name Haakon VII, as its new king. Haakon and his wife, Maud of Wales, were crowned at Trondheim on 22 June 1906, in keeping with the constitutional mandate. However, since many Norwegian statesmen had come to regard coronation rites as "undemocratic and archaic", this provision was repealed in 1908. Currently a new monarch is only required to take a formal accession oath in the Council of State, and then at the Parliament, the Storting.

Although coronations are not expressly banned under current Norwegian legislation, none have been held since 1906. Instead, the two sovereigns who followed Haakon VII have chosen to create a "benediction" ceremony to mark the beginning of their reigns. This new rite is held at Nidaros, and retains some of the religious elements of earlier coronation rituals while harking back to the old konungstekja rites held prior to the initial institution of coronations in the 12th century. The crown jewels are displayed, but not bestowed, during this ceremony.

From 1818 to 1906, the Norwegian coronation ritual commenced with the king and queen making a procession to the Nidaros Cathedral preceded by the Norwegian Regalia. Once there, they were greeted by the Bishops of Trondheim, Kristiania (now Oslo) and Bergen and their attendant clergy with the words: "The Lord bless your going out and your coming in now and forevermore". Entering the cathedral, the monarchs seated themselves upon two canopied thrones in the choir.