Sør-Fron is a municipality

Municipalities of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...

 in Oppland

Oppland

is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....

 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...

, 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...

. It is part of the traditional region

Districts of Norway

The country Norway is historically divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords,...

 of Gudbrandsdal

Gudbrandsdal

The Gudbrandsdalen is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Oppland. The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer at Mjøsa, extending 230 km toward Romsdal...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hundorp

Hundorp

Hundorp is a village in Gudbrandsdal, Norway. The administrative centre of Sør-Fron, Oppland, Hundorp was also the centre of the petty kingdom of Gudbrandsdal and as such important in religion and politics. Dale-Gudbrands gard, the farm once populated by the ancient ruler Dale-Gudbrand, is the...

.

The old municipality of Fron

Fron

Fron is a former municipality in Gudbrandsdal in Oppland, Norway.It was created in 1837 as Fron formannskapsdistrikt, but in 1851 the municipality was split into Nord-Fron and Sør-Fron...

 was divided into Sør-Fron and Nord-Fron

Nord-Fron

Nord-Fron is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vinstra. The old municipality of Fron was divided into Nord-Fron and Sør-Fron in 1851...

in 1851. In 1966, they were merged back together again, but that only lasted until 1977 when they separated once again.

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 Frón. The meaning of the name is unknown (maybe "earth" or "land"). Therefore the meaning of Sør-Fron is "(the) southern (part of) Fron", since the parish and municipality of Fron was divided in 1851. In the 19th century, it was called Søndre Fron (søndre also means south).

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 (1988). The arms show the club that smashed to pieces the statue of the god Thor

Thor

In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...

 standing at Hundorp.

Geography

On the north it is bordered by Nord-Fron

Nord-Fron

Nord-Fron is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vinstra. The old municipality of Fron was divided into Nord-Fron and Sør-Fron in 1851...

 municipality. On the west, it is bordered by Øystre Slidre

Øystre Slidre

Øystre Slidre is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of...

. To the south it is bordered by Gausdal

Gausdal

Gausdal is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Segalstad bru...

 and Ringebu

Ringebu

is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vålebru.The municipality of Ringebu was established on 1 January 1838...

. To the east it is bordered by Folldal

Folldal

Folldal is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Dovre. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Folldal. The new municipality of Folldal was separated from Alvdal in 1914.-Name:...

 and Stor-Elvdal

Stor-Elvdal

Stor-Elvdal is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Koppang....

 municipalities in Hedmark

Hedmark

is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Akershus. The county administration is in Hamar.Hedmark makes up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It includes a long part of the borderline with Sweden, Dalarna County and Värmland County. The...

 county.

Rondane National Park

Rondane National Park

Rondane National Park

Rondane National Park is the oldest national park in Norway, established on 21 December 1962. The park contains ten peaks above , with the highest being Rondslottet at an altitude of . The park is an important habitat for herds of wild reindeer....

, which lies partially in Sør-Fron, was the first Norwegian National Park, established in 1962. In 2003, Rondane National Park was enlarged and smaller areas of nature protection were opened or enlarged adjacent to the park.

Villages include Frya, Hundorp

Hundorp

Hundorp is a village in Gudbrandsdal, Norway. The administrative centre of Sør-Fron, Oppland, Hundorp was also the centre of the petty kingdom of Gudbrandsdal and as such important in religion and politics. Dale-Gudbrands gard, the farm once populated by the ancient ruler Dale-Gudbrand, is the...

, Lia

Lia, Norway

Lia is a village in Sør-Fron municipality, Norway. Its population is 261. It is separated from Hundorp by the Gudbrandsdalslågen river....

 and Harpefoss

Harpefoss

Harpefoss is a village in Sør-Fron municipality, Norway. Its population was 439 in 2008.-New kindergarten :The municipal council in Sør-Fron began planning for a restructuring of the local schools in 2009. In December 2010 a decision was made which included one new kindergarten in Harpefoss...

.

Culture

The famous play Peer Gynt

Peer Gynt

Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...

is staged annually at Lake Gålå in a mountainous region of Sør-Fron as part of a festival. The play itself is supposed to have been set in a Norwegian location such as Gålå.

Notable residents

The famous author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 Ludvig Holberg

Ludvig Holberg

Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...

 spent part of his youth at the parsonage

Rectory

A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...

 in Sør-Fron, where he was tutored along with his cousin's children. His cousin was then the minister there.

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...