Reisefølget bærer kartmappen.

Reisefølget means the travel party, the group of travelers, or sometimes the traveling companions depending on context.

The ending -et shows that the noun is definite singular for a neuter noun. The base form is et reisefølge = a travel party / a group of companions.
So:

• et reisefølge = a travel party
• reisefølget = the travel party

In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like the in English.

Because Norwegian usually adds definiteness directly to the noun.

In English, you say:

• the travel party
• the map folder

In Norwegian, that becomes:

• reisefølget
• kartmappen

So the meaning of the is built into the endings:

• -et in reisefølget
• -en in kartmappen

This is one of the most important differences from English noun structure.

Bærer is the present tense of the verb å bære, which means to carry, to bear, or in some contexts to wear.

So:

• å bære = to carry
• bærer = carries / is carrying

In this sentence, bærer means carries.

Because the infinitive verb is å bære, and the stem changes in a way that keeps æ in the present tense: bærer.

This is just the normal spelling of the verb and not something special caused by the sentence. Norwegian uses the letters æ, ø, and å as regular letters of the alphabet, not accented versions of a or o.

Kartmappen means the map folder, the map case, or the folder with maps, depending on context.

The base noun is mappe, which is usually feminine in Bokmål:

• ei mappe = a folder
• mappa = the folder

But many feminine nouns can also be treated as masculine in Bokmål:

• en mappe
• mappen

So kartmappen is a perfectly normal definite form meaning the map folder.

The first part, kart-, means map, so kartmappe is a compound noun:

• kart
  • mappe = map folder

Yes. In Bokmål, both can be possible depending on style and noun gender choice.

Since mappe is commonly feminine, many speakers would say:

• ei kartmappe
• kartmappa

But Bokmål also allows many feminine nouns to be used as masculine:

• en kartmappe
• kartmappen

So kartmappen is correct, and kartmappa could also be correct in many contexts.

No, this is the basic Norwegian sentence pattern:

• Subject + Verb + Object

So here we have:

• Reisefølget = subject
• bærer = verb
• kartmappen = object

This matches normal English word order in a simple statement:

• The travel party carries the map folder

The subject is usually the noun before the verb in a simple declarative sentence, and the object usually comes after the verb.

So in:

Reisefølget bærer kartmappen

• Reisefølget comes before the verb, so it is the subject
• kartmappen comes after the verb, so it is the object

In other words, the travel party is doing the carrying, and the map folder is the thing being carried.

Because Norwegian very often forms compound nouns as a single word.

So instead of writing something like reise følge or using multiple separate words, Norwegian combines them:

• reise = travel
• følge = company / companion / accompaniment
• reisefølge = traveling company / travel companion(s) / travel party

This is very common in Norwegian, just as in German and unlike English, which often prefers separate words.

Yes, å bære can also mean to wear in some contexts, especially with clothes, symbols, or expressions.

For example:

• Hun bærer en rød kjole = She is wearing a red dress

But in this sentence, with kartmappen as the object, the natural meaning is carries, not wears.

That would be:

Et reisefølge bærer en kartmappe.

Here the nouns are indefinite:

• et reisefølge = a travel party
• en kartmappe = a map folder

Compare:

• Et reisefølge bærer en kartmappe. = A travel party carries a map folder.
• Reisefølget bærer kartmappen. = The travel party carries the map folder.

A rough guide for an English speaker is something like:

RYE-seh-føl-geh

But that is only approximate. A few important points:

• ei in reise sounds somewhat like the i in my
• ø has no exact English equivalent; it is a rounded front vowel
• the final -get in følget is not pronounced exactly like English get

If pronunciation matters for your study, it is best to hear it from native audio, because ø and Norwegian vowel length are hard to learn from spelling alone.

Because when følge becomes a definite neuter noun inside reisefølget, it takes the ending -et:

• et reisefølge
• reisefølget

So the final e of the base form is replaced by the definite ending pattern. This is a normal noun inflection process, not a special irregularity of this sentence.