Audnedal
Encyclopedia
Audnedal is a municipality
Municipalities of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...

 in the county
Counties of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...

 of Vest-Agder
Vest-Agder
In the 16th century, Dutch merchant vessels began to visit ports in southern Norway to purchase salmon and other goods. Soon thereafter the export of timber began, as oak from southern Norway was exceptionally well suited for shipbuilding...

, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The new municipality of Audnedal was created on 1 January 1964 after the merger of Grindheim
Grindheim
Grindheim is a village and a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Audnedal.-Name:...

 and Konsmo
Konsmo
Konsmo is a village and a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located south of Ytre Øydnavatnet in the southern half of the present-day municipality of Audnedal along the Audna river in the Audnedalen valley.-Name:...

.

The old municipality (see Undal
Undal
Undal is a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located in parts of the present-day municipalities of Audnedal and Lindesnes.-Name:...

) had quite different borders: It was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt
Formannskapsdistrikt
Formannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...

) but in 1845 it was divided into Nord-Audnedal
Nord-Audnedal
Nord-Audnedal is former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located along the river Audna in the Audnedalen valley in the southern part of the present-day municipality of Audnedal and the northern part of the present-day municipality of Lindesnes.-History:The municipality of...

 (divided in Konsmo
Konsmo
Konsmo is a village and a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located south of Ytre Øydnavatnet in the southern half of the present-day municipality of Audnedal along the Audna river in the Audnedalen valley.-Name:...

 and Vigmostad
Vigmostad
Vigmostad is a village and a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located along the Audna river in the Audnedalen valley in the present-day municipality of Lindesnes.-Name:...

 in 1911) and Sør-Audnedal
Sør-Audnedal
Sør-Audnedal is a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located in the central part of the present-day municipality of Lindesnes.-Name:...

 (Spangereid
Spangereid
Spangereid is a village and a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located in the southern part of the present-day municipality of Lindesnes, and it is home to the new Spangereid Canal which crosses the Spangereid isthmus....

 separated in 1899).

It is an inland municipality, and Åseral
Åseral
Åseral is a municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. The administrative center is the village of Kyrkjebygda.The parish of Bjelland had to be divided into two formannskapsdistrikts on 1 January 1838. This is because the main part of Bjelland belonged to the county of Vest-Agder, while the annex...

 municipality borders it to the north, Hægebostad
Hægebostad
Hægebostad is a municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. Hægebostad was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...

 to the west, Lyngdal
Lyngdal
is a municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. Lyngdal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Austad and Kvås were separated from Lyngdal on 1 January 1909 but they were again merged with Lyngdal on 1 January 1964, together with the area of Spangereid west of Lenesfjorden.It is a...

 and Lindesnes
Lindesnes
Lindesnes is a municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway. Lindesnes was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the older municipalities of Spangereid, Sør-Audnedal, and Vigmostad....

 to the south, and Marnardal
Marnardal
Marnardal is a municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. Marnardal was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 through the merger of the former municipalities of Bjelland, Laudal, and Øyslebø....

 to the east. In the north-east it borders Evje og Hornnes
Evje og Hornnes
Evje og Hornnes is a municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional region of Setesdal. Evje og Hornnes was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1960 after the merger of the two older municipalities of Evje and Hornnes....

 in the county of Aust-Agder
Aust-Agder
is a county in Norway, bordering Telemark, Rogaland, and Vest-Agder. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which is 2.2% of the total population in Norway. Its area is . The administrative center of the county is in Arendal....

.

Name

The Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 form of the name was Auðnudalr. The first element is the genitive case
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...

 of the river name Auðna (now Audnedalselva) and the last element is dalr which means "valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

" or "dale". The river name is derived from the Norse word auðn which means "destruction" (because of flooding).

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 is from modern times. They were granted on 30 August 1991. It shows a blade of a circular saw
Circular saw
The circular saw is a machine using a toothed metal cutting disc or blade. The term is also loosely used for the blade itself. The blade is a tool for cutting wood or other materials and may be hand-held or table-mounted. It can also be used to make narrow slots...

 to represent the timber and forestry industries in the municipality.

Attractions

  • Recommended hiking
    Hiking
    Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

     trips, among other places in the area, are "Blomliknuten".

  • The local museum
    Museum
    A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

     located on Sveindal is also a noteworthy visit.

  • If you enjoy the art of fishing
    Fishing
    Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

    , you should drop by the river "Mandalselva". Salmon
    Salmon
    Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

     weighing several kilograms can be caught here.

External links

  • Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
    Statistics Norway
    Statistics Norway is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876.Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All releases are published both in Norwegian and English...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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