The visitors were looking to bounce back from defeat to Portugal in their second game and tested Danny Ward early on when David Moller Wolfe sent a volley straight at the goalkeeper.
Moments later, Oscar Bobb broke the deadlock, making a piercing run between two defenders to reach Marin Odegaard’s inch-perfect pass and slot into the bottom corner.
Craig Bellamy’s men were undeterred, but struggled to find their way past a belligerent defence. It took until the half-hour mark to test Orjan Nyland, who denied Liam Cullen from a tight angle, while Ethan Ampadu sent a long-range strike harmlessly over moments later.
At the other end, Ben Cabango received a huge slice of luck when he inadvertently deflected a fierce cross goalwards, only for Ward to pounce on the loose ball.
The equaliser came shortly before the break, though, with Daniel James converting his 11th international goal from close range after being expertly picked out by the lively Sorba Thomas.
That gave Wales the momentum going into the second half, and they received a huge boost within 20 seconds of the restart as Stale Solbakken’s side were reduced to 10 men.
Torbjorn Heggem attempted to shepherd the ball through to his goalkeeper, but realised there was not enough pace on it and had to haul down James.
To make matters worse for the Scandinavian side, their hosts took the lead from the resulting free-kick, which Neco Williams whipped past a poorly placed wall and into the bottom corner.
The game became stretched as Norway searched for an equaliser. Erling Haaland headed off target and the visitors also saw a penalty appeal turned down, but as they pushed forward, there was space at the back for the Dragons to exploit.
James was denied his second of the night by Nyland and Thomas struck a low shot just wide from 20 yards, before Josh Sheehan was also impressively denied by the Norway stopper.
A late Norwegian rally eventually came, inspired by the dangerous Antonio Nusa, and while Wales were rarely threatened, Jorgen Strand Larsen nearly broke home hearts with a powerful strike that whistled past the post.
The Dragons' victory eases the pressure on Bellamy and serves as the perfect response to a dreadful performance in Denmark and stretches their unbeaten run in home head-to-heads to four matches.
Norway, meanwhile, have lost back-to-back matches for the first time in four years.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Neco Williams (Wales)
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