Ved bordet fikk vi hver vår tallerken og hver vår serviett før gjestene kom.

Here Ved bordet means at the table or by the table.

• ved is used for being next to or at something
• på bordet would mean on the table

So in this sentence, Ved bordet places the action at the table, not on top of it.

Norwegian often moves a time or place expression to the front of the sentence to set the scene or give it emphasis.

So instead of the more neutral order:

Vi fikk hver vår tallerken og hver vår serviett ved bordet før gjestene kom

the sentence starts with Ved bordet to foreground the location.

This is because of the Norwegian V2 rule: in a main clause, the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

Since Ved bordet is placed first, the verb fikk must come next, and the subject vi comes after it:

• Ved bordet fikk vi ...

If the sentence started with Vi, then you would get:

• Vi fikk ...

Fikk is the past tense of få, which often means get, receive, or sometimes be given.

Here it means got or received:

• vi fikk = we got / we received

So the sentence is describing something that happened in the past.

Hver vår means something like each our own.

In natural English, you would usually translate it as:

• each got our own
• one each

So:

• hver vår tallerken = a plate each / our own plate each
• hver vår serviett = a napkin each / our own napkin each

English usually needs own here, but Norwegian does not need a separate extra word for that idea.

Because the subject is vi, the possessive used is vår.

• vår = our
• sin/sitt/sine is a reflexive possessive mainly used with third-person subjects

So with vi, standard Norwegian uses:

• vi fikk hver vår tallerken

If the subject were de, you would often get:

• de fikk hver sin tallerken

They are singular because each person got one plate and one napkin.

That is how this each-type construction works in Norwegian:

• hver vår tallerken = one plate for each person
• hver vår serviett = one napkin for each person

So even though several people are involved, the noun stays singular because the item is distributed one by one.

It is repeated because it applies separately to both nouns.

• hver vår tallerken og hver vår serviett

makes it very clear that each person got:

• one plate each
• and one napkin each

You might sometimes hear shorter versions in speech, but repeating it here is clear and natural.

They are definite because they refer to specific things already known in the situation.

• bordet = the table
• gjestene = the guests

If you used the indefinite forms, the meaning would be less specific:

• ved et bord = at a table
• gjester = guests in a more general sense

So the sentence is talking about a particular table and particular guests.

Før means before, and it introduces a subordinate clause:

• før gjestene kom = before the guests came / arrived

Inside that clause, the word order is the normal subordinate-clause order:

• gjestene kom

You do not get the main-clause V2 pattern there. So not:

• før kom gjestene

but:

• før gjestene kom

Norwegian often uses the simple past where English might sometimes use the past perfect.

Because før already makes the time relationship clear, fikk is enough:

• Ved bordet fikk vi ... før gjestene kom

This already clearly means that getting the plate and napkin happened earlier than the guests’ arrival. A past perfect form could be used in some contexts for extra emphasis, but it is not necessary here.

Yes. A more neutral version would be:

Vi fikk hver vår tallerken og hver vår serviett ved bordet før gjestene kom.

That version may be easier to understand at first because it starts with the subject vi. The original sentence is still completely normal; it just fronts the location phrase Ved bordet.