The coat of arms of Lardal

Lardal

Lardal is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Svarstad. The parish of Laurdal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The municipality is divided into the parishes of Svarstad, Styrvoll, and Hem.-Name:The Old...

was approved on 17 July 1992 and is a gold hulder

Huldra

In Scandinavian folklore, the Huldra , or the skogsrå or skogsfru/skovfrue or Tallemaja in Swedish culture, is a seductive forest creature...

on a red field. The flag was at the same time approved as a yellow hulder on a red field. (Gules, a Huldra Ore, centered) Both the coat of arms and flag were designed by the artist Arvid Sveen.

The huldra is one of the members of the underworld you might encounter when wandering in the wilderness according to Norwegian folklore. She is stunningly beautiful, except for her cow tail, but might lure you into the underworld.

Large areas of the municipality are forest and wilderness and there are many local tales of encounters with the mythical huldra among the inhabitants of Lardal. The area and the huldra are said to share the characteristics of wildness and mysteriousness.