Rygge

Rygge Air Force station, replaced a temporary airfield constructed by German forces during World War II. The contemporary airfield, NE of the highway and main railway is situated in Rygge and its neighbouring municipality Råde. Constructed from 1952-54 and until recently it was one of the largest establishments of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The airfield is now completely converted into a civilian airfiled, opening in the end of 2007 or later. The emblems of Rygge are milkz and the Pasque flower. Rygge is connected to Oslo by double-tracked railway, and 4-lane motorway.

[edit] The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Rygge, since the first church was built there. The Norse form of the name is not known (the oldest manuscripts from the period 1353-1528 use the form "Ryg(g)jof"). A possible (but uncertain!) reconstruction is *Rýgjuhof. The first element would then be the genitive case of *rýgja f, a sideform of rýgr f 'lady'. (Like ylgja to ylgr, both forms with the meaning 'she-wolf'.) The last element is probably hof n 'temple'.

If this is correct, then the word *rýgja most probably is referring to the goddess Freyja, since the meaning of the word freyja also is 'lady'.

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1984). It shows a golden spore from the Viking Age, found in the municipality.

Municipalities of Østfold
Aremark \| Askim \| Eidsberg \| Fredrikstad \| Halden \| Hobøl \| Hvaler \| Marker \| Moss \| Rakkestad \| Rygge \| Rømskog \| Råde \| Sarpsborg \| Skiptvet \| Spydeberg \| Trøgstad \| Våler