Trøndelag

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Trøndelag

Region (landsdel) of	Norway (Norge)
Capital	Trondheim
Area	41,260 km²
Population	412849 (01.01.2008)
~ density	2.66 inh./km²
2 counties (fylker):	Sør-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag
Website	Trøndelag.com

Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. (The districts of Nordmøre and Romsdal, and the municipality of Bindal, originally also was parts of Trøndelag - and the inhabitants there still speak dialects similar to Trøndersk.) The name, Trøndelag, consists of the tribal name Trønder and the word lag (law), meaning the "area of the law of the Trønders" (compare Danelaw). The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger administrative division called Central Norway.

Historically, Jämtland and Härjedalen have been a part of Trøndelag, which is why some refer to them as Øst-Trøndelag.

A person from Trøndelag is called a Trønder. The largest city, unofficial capital of Trøndelag and also the first capital of Norway, is Trondheim (Sør-Trøndelag). The dialect spoken in the area is characterized by dropping out most vowel endings; see apocope.

[edit] History

Further information: Rock carvings in Central Norway, Nøstvet and Lihult cultures, and Corded Ware culture

People have lived in this region for thousands of years. In the early iron-age Trøndelag was divided into several petty kingdoms called fylki. The different fylki had a common law, and an early parliament or thing. It was called Frostating and was held at the Frosta-peninsula. By some this is regarded as the first real democracy.

In the time after Håkon Grjotgardsson (838-900), Trøndelag was ruled by the Jarl of Lade. Lade is located in the eastern part of Trondheim, bordering the Trondheimsfjord. The powerful Jarls of Lade continued to play a very significant political role in Norway up to 1030.

Jarls of Lade (Ladejarl) were:

Håkon Grjotgardsson, the first jarl of Lade.
Sigurd Håkonsson, son of Håkon. Killed by Harald Greyhide.
Håkon Sigurdsson, son of Sigurd. Conspired with Harald Bluetooth against Harald Greyhide, and subsequently became vassal of Harald Bluetooth, and in reality independent ruler of Norway. After the arrival of Olaf Trygvason, Håkon quickly lost all support, and was killed by his own slave, Tormod Kark, in 995.
Eirik Håkonsson, son of Håkon. Together with his brother, Svein, governor of Norway under Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark from 1000 to 1012.
Håkon Eiriksson, son of Eirik. Governor of Norway under Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark from 1012 to 1015.

Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim

Trøndelag was ceded to Sweden (together with Møre og Romsdal) in the Treaty of Roskilde (1658) and was ruled by Karl X Gustav until Denmark-Norway took it back two years later.

The Swedes conscripted 2,000 men in Trøndelag, forcing young boys down to 15 years of age to join the Swedish armies fighting against Poland and Brandenburg. King Karl X Gustav was afraid that the Trønders would rise against their Swedish occupiers, and thought it wise to keep a large part of the men away. Only about one third of the men ever returned to their homes; some of them were forced to settle in the then Swedish province of Estonia, as the Swedes thought it would be easier to rule the Trønders there,utilising the ancient maxim of divide and rule. A major fraction of Trøndelag men were already in the Dano-Norwegian army, so the Swedish forced conscription emptied Trøndelag of males. The result was devastating; farms now were left without enough hands to harvest the fields, and famine struck the region, with hundreds of people starved to death. It took many years before Trøndelag recovered from its losses. This is known by some local Trøndelag historians as the genocide against the Trønders.^{[citation needed]}

In the winter of 1718-1719 General Carl Gustaf Armfeldt, led an attack on Trøndelag, with devastating result both for the people of the region and for the Carolingians.^{[citation needed]}

The region was divided into two administrative counties in 1804.

Traditional Trøndelag house

[edit] Culture

The region's official theatre is Trøndelag Teater, in Trondheim. At Stiklestad in Verdal a historical play, The Saint Olav Drama, has been played each year since 1954, depicting the last days of Saint Olaf .

The region is popularly known for its moonshine homebrew, the karsk. The "national dish" of the region is sodd, sheep meat and meatballs in boiled stock.

Jazz on a very high level is frequently heard in Trondheim; Trøndelag is also known for its local variety of rock music, often performed in local dialect, called "Trønder-Rock".

The Norwegian Grey Troender (Norwegian: Grå trøndersau) is an endangered breed of domesticated sheep that originated from Trøndelag in the late 1800s. There are currently approximately 50 individual animals remaining and efforts are being made to revive the breed.