This is a twofold question. When I learnt to knit I was taught English style but I have always held the yarn between my thumb and forefinger when knitting so, when knitting flat, my first few stitches on the purl side of my work are always loose and my tension uneven. I decided to wrap the yarn around my fingers and gave myself right wrist strain so back to holding it between my thumb and forefinger! I gave Continental knitting a try to take the strain off my wrist and, as I like knitting in the round, knitting was great but when it came to knitting flat purling not so much! I have recently discovered Norwegian purl and am liking it but not sure I’m doing it right. When I get to where your yarn goes around your right hand needle anti clockwise that’s fine but when I bring my right hand needle back to the front does it go back up through the stitch on the left hand needle to pull the stitch off? Also when making sleeves I like to use DPNs but have to knit English style as I get in a tangle if I try to knit Continental. Is there a particular way of holding DPNs in Continental/Norwegian style?
See if this tutorial helps. Step 5 may be the part you’re asking about.
I’m not a Norwegian purler so I’m not sure what to recommend for dpns. I hope someone else will have a suggestion. Arne and Carlos have videos the may help since Arne often knits socks.
This is not a direct answer to your questions, but…
regarding “alternative” ways to purl in continental style: have you also looked into the so-called “eastern” purl, aka what is commonly used in “combined knitting?” Combined knitting, as it’s most commonly practiced, is a kind of continental style that uses purl stitches that are wrapped round the needle in the opposite direction from how the knit stitches are wrapped–because many people find it easier or more ergonomic to do it that way. Some sources suggest it’s only useful for knitting flat st st, but that isn’t true–actually you can use it for anything ( as long as you understand how to take the eastern oriented stitches into account). It’s how I always like to purl, and making any necessary adjustments is completely second nature to me now.
Here’s a website devoted to the style: https://www.grumperina.com/comboknitbackground.htm There are lots of other resources out there too if you did wanna pursue it. (Also, at least a couple of us this forum knit that way too if you have questions, and ravelry has groups devoted to it.)
Cheers!
There are several ways of keeping the yarn while knitting the Continental style and the grip will be slightly different depending on this. Most videos with English speaking people tend to have the index finger far away from the needle while most Russian videos seems to have the finger very close to the needle. Personally I find it easier to hold the needles the way the Russians do. While I will explain how I hold my needles, I still think it is best to watch knitting videos by different people and languages and try a few ways to see what fits you.
I am holding the yarn just over my index finger, without wrapping it around, and I very, very lightly push together my index finger and my long finger so there is a slight friction for the yarn to pass between them. I also keep the index finger really close to the left needle. In the beginning I was scratching my left index finger with my right needle (because it is so close), but then my precision went up and it does not happen anymore. When knitting socks, mittens or any smaller item I prefer to have 5 DPNs (4 around and the 5th for knitting). With this many DPNs there usually are few enough stitches on each needle that I am able to push them together and the pinky will hold just the plain needle. In this way I never need to do any stitch feeding with my left hand, all I have to do is to just slightly open the rest of the fingers (except for pinky) to let the stitches glide a bit as I pull the newly knitted/purled stitch off the left needle (which is why I also prefer really slippery DPNs).
With this way of holding the yarn I have been able to do Norwegian purls without a problem. However, for real speed I prefer to do an East European purl (Continental Combined style). With Continental Combined style I also hold my needles in the same way as I described above. With this style I am able to knit very fast 1x1 ribbing.
Update on my mum’s sweater using Norwegian purl - So far so good as regards knitting flat (I’m currently doing the part between the armhole and the shoulder). I’m getting more into the rocking type motion and am managing to pick up a little bit of speed. When it comes to knitting the sleeves using DPNs however I will let you know! 
Great! One little thing I just thought of to remember regarding the norwegian purl is that the movements don’t have to be super exaggerated. Once you learn the basic rhythm you don’t have to do huge swinging motions, which is tiring and can mess up your wrists (been there done that). Most videos show big movements but remember that’s more just for demonstration purposes (or sometimes a demonstrator for whom it isn’t their most regular style). To wit, I once saw a video of a scandinavian woman (not sure the language of the vid) doing that kind of purl and it really was very nearly as fast and fluid as her knits–I had to watch really closely just to catch which were which! I really should have bookmarked that vid bc it was a beautiful example of the technique but unfortunately I don’t recall how to find it again…