is a
county||-|Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 431 municipalities...
in
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, bordering
Buskerudis a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.
- Geography :...
and
Telemarkis a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
. The county administration is in
Tønsbergis a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Tønsberg.The town of Tønsberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
.
Vestfold is located west of the
OslofjordThe Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north. The bay is divided into the inner and outer Oslofjord at the point of the 17 km long and narrow...
, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as
Larvikis a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik.The city of Larvik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
,
Sandefjordis a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838...
,
Tønsbergis a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Tønsberg.The town of Tønsberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
and
Hortenis a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the villages of Borre, Åsgårdstrand, Skoppum, and Nykirke....
. The river
NumedalslågenNumedalslågen is a river located in southeastern Norway. It stretches for over 250 kilometres through the counties of Vestfold and Buskerud, beginning at the Hardangervidda plateau and meeting the ocean at Larvik in Vestfold. Numedalslågen is one of Norway's longest rivers...
runs through the district. Many islands are located at the coast. Vestfold is mostly dominated by lowland and is among the best agricultural areas of Norway. Winters last about three months, while pleasant summer temperatures last from May to September, with a July average of 17°C (
Tønsberg climate).
Vestfold is known for shipping and sailing. Formerly a headquarters for whaling fleets, the coastal towns of Vestfold now engage in fishing and shipbuilding. Some lumbering is carried on in the interior. The district also includes some of the best farmland in Norway.
Vestfold is the only county in which all municipalities have declared
BokmålBokmål , is the more commonly used of the two Norwegian written standard languages, the other being Nynorsk. Bokmål is used by 85-90% of the population in Norway, regardless of dialect, and is the standard most commonly taught to foreign students of the Norwegian language.Bokmål is regulated by the...
to be their official
written formThe orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example for Kurdish, there can be more than one orthography. Orthography is derived from Greek ὀρθός orthós and γράφειν...
of the
Norwegian languageNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants ...
.
History
The family of
Harald FairhairHarald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , was the first king of Norway....
, who was most likely the first king of the whole Norway, is said to have come from this area. At that time Vestfold, including
LierLier is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lier. The municipality of Lier was established on 1 January 1838...
and
EikerEiker is a traditional district in the county of Buskerud, Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Nedre Eiker and Øvre Eiker ....
, was a
petty kingdomA petty kingdom is an independent realm recognizing no suzerain and controlling only a portion of the territory held by a particular ethnic group or nation. Petty kingdoms were prominent before the formation of many of today's nation-states. Many of today's countries were typically ruled by...
. Kings of Vestfold include:
- Erik Agnarsson
- Halfdan Hvitbeinn
Halfdan Whiteshanks was a mythical petty king in Norway, described in Ynglinga saga. The following description is based on the account in Ynglinga saga, written in the 1220s by Snorri Sturluson. The historicity of the kings described in that saga is generally not accepted by modern historians.He...
(part of Vestfold)
- Eystein Halfdansson
Eystein Halfdansson was the son of Halfdan Hvitbeinn of the House of Yngling according to Heimskringla. He inherited the throne of Romerike and Vestfold....
- Halfdan the Mild
Halfdan the Mild was the son of king Eystein Halfdansson, of the House of Yngling and he succeeded his father as king, according to Heimskringla. He was king of Romerike and Vestfold....
- Gudrød the Hunter
Gudrød the Hunter was a semi-legendary king in south-east Norway, during the early Viking Age. He is mentioned in the skaldic poem Ynglingatal. Snorri Sturluson elaborates on Gudrød's story in Heimskringla, written c. 1230; however, this is not considered to be a historical account by modern...
- Halfdan the Black
Halfdan the Black Gudrödarson was the father of first king of Norway, Harald Fairhair, and belonged to the House of Yngling. No contemporary sources mention Halfdan, and the details of his life that are provided by later kings' sagas are considered semi-legendary by modern historians...
, together with his brother, Olaf Gudrødsson
- Ragnvald the Mountain-High
Ragnvald "the Mountain-High" Olafsson was a petty king of Vestfold in what is today Norway. He was the son of Olaf Geirstad-Alf, a cousin of Harald Fairhair and the father of Aseda Rognvaldsdatter, who married Eystein Ivarsson.His greatest contribution to posterity was that he asked the skald...
, Cousin of Harold Fairhair
- Harald Fairhair
- Bjørn Farmann
Bjørn Farmann was one of the sons of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and was the king of Vestfold...
- Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf
Olaf Haraldsson was a son of Harald Fairhair of Norway. He was made king of Vingulmark by his father and then later inherited Vestfold after his brother Bjørn Farmann had been killed by their half-brother Eric Bloodaxe. Eric was king Harald's favourite son and his appointed successor, but he was...
, brother of Bjørn
- Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976-987
KaupangKaupang is a town founded in the 780s during the time when the Vikings started to launch their raids against Britain and other parts of Europe until it was abandoned for unknown reasons in the early 10th century. It was situated in Vestfold county in Norway....
, a town from the
Viking AgeViking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the eighth to eleventh centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
is believed to be the first town in Norway, although
Tønsbergis a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Tønsberg.The town of Tønsberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
is the oldest town in Norway still existing. By the 10th century the local kings had established themselves as the first dynasty to begin the unification of Norway.
The name
Vestfold is the old name of the region - revived in modern times.
Fold was the old name of the
OslofjordThe Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north. The bay is divided into the inner and outer Oslofjord at the point of the 17 km long and narrow...
, and the meaning of the name
Vestfold is 'the region
west of the Fold'.
Before 1919 the county was called
Jarlsberg og Larvik Amt. The
amt"Amt" is a type of administrative division of some northern European countries. It is generally larger than a municipality, and the term is thus roughly equivalent to a U.S. "township".-The Amt in Germany:...
was created in 1821, consisting of the two old counties of
JarlsbergJarlsberg was a county established in 1673 by Peter Griffenfeld in the central and Northern part of Vestfold, Norway. In 1821 Jarlsberg and Laurvig were joined to form the county Jarlsberg og Laurvigs Amt, renamed Vestfold in 1919...
and
Larvikis a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik.The city of Larvik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
.
J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from...
also used
Westfold as the name of a district in the fictional realm of
RohanRohan is a realm in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy era of Middle-earth. It is also referred to as Riddermark or The Mark. Rohan is a realm in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy era of Middle-earth. It is also referred to as Riddermark or The Mark. Rohan is a realm in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy era of...
, in his
fantasyFantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. Many works within the genre take place on fictional planes or planets where magic is common...
world of
Middle-earthMiddle-earth is an imaginary place which is the setting for most of the stories of author J. R. R. Tolkien. These stories include The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings...
.
Municipalities
Vestfold County has a total of 14 municipalities:
- Andebu
Andebu is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Andebu. The parish of Andebo was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 ....
- Hof
- Holmestrand
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Holmestrad. The city was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The neighboring rural municipality of Botne was merged into the municipality of Holmestrand on 1 January...
- Horten
is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the villages of Borre, Åsgårdstrand, Skoppum, and Nykirke....
- 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...
- Larvik
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik.The city of Larvik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
- Nøtterøy
Nøtterøy is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Borgheim.The parish of Nøtterø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
- Re
Re is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Revetal. The municipality was established in 2002 by the unification of the former municipalities of Ramnes and Våle. It includes the villages of Ramnes, Våle, and Revetal...
- Sande
Sande is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of "Sande i Vestfold". The municipality of Sande was established on 1 January 1838 ....
- Sandefjord
is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838...
- Stokke
Stokke is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stokke.-Background:The municipality of Stokke was established on 1 January 1838...
- Svelvik
is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Svelvik.The town of Svelvik was separated from the rural municipality of Strømm to become a municipality of its own in 1845...
- Tjøme
Tjøme is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tjøme. The parish of Tjømø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 .-Name:...
- Tønsberg
is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Tønsberg.The town of Tønsberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...