| Norddal kommune | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Norddal within Møre og Romsdal | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Norway | ||
| County | Møre og Romsdal | ||
| District | Sunnmøre | ||
| Administrative centre | Sylte | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor (2007) | Bjørn Inge Ruset (Ap) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 943.54 km2 (364.3 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 900.51 km2 (347.7 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 43.03 km2 (16.6 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 115 in Norway | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 1,801 | ||
| • Rank | 345 in Norway | ||
| • Density | 2.0/km2 (5.2/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (10 years) | -8.1 % | ||
| Demonym | Norddaling[1] | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1524 | ||
| Official language form | Nynorsk | ||
| Website | www.norddal.kommune.no | ||
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Norddal is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It covers the easternmost part of the Sunnmøre region along the border with Oppland county. The municipal center of the municipality is the village of Sylte in Valldal.
Norddal covers an area with several distinct valleys and villages: Eidsdal and Norddal (Dalsbygda) in the south; Tafjord in the east; and Fjørå/Selboskarbygda and Sylte in the Valldal valley in the north. The Norwegian National Road 63 traverses the municipality from south to north.
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Norddal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Historically, the district of Sunnylven was part of Norddal, but it was created as a separate municipality in 1838.
The Old Norse form of the name was just Dalr, identical with the word dalr which menas "valley" or "dale". The first element Nord- meaning "northern" was added around the year 1600. The parish church is still called Dale church. Before 1918, the name was written Norddalen.[2]
The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 1990. The arms show a red twig of a strawberry plant on a yellow background. Norddal has a tradition for producing fruits and berries, notably strawberries.
The Church of Norway has one parish with two churches, within the municipality of Norddal. It is part of the Diocese of Møre and the Rural Deanery (Prosti) of Austre Sunnmøre.
| Parish (Sokn) |
Church Name | Year Built | Location of the Church |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norddal | Norddal kyrkje | 1782 | Norddal |
| Sylte kyrkje | 1863 | Sylte |
Valldal is mentioned in the historical books of Snorri Sturluson. While escaping the Danish army, Olav Haraldsson, later to become St. Olav, went ashore in Valldal during the winter 1028/1029. Here, he supposedly came across a troublesome sea worm which he tossed onto the mountainside and can today be seen as a lighter rock pattern above the town centre Sylte. On his journey up the valley towards Trollstigen, he received help from the farmers at Grønning to pass a rocky section called Skjærsura. For this help he deemed that the seed crop would never suffer from frost. Also, a natural spring in Valldal is named after St. Olav and is said to have a healing effect.
In 2008, a memorial stone was erected at the farm Døving, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) up the valley from the sea, where the first church and cemetery is believed to have been located.
The municipality lies around the Norddalsfjorden and the Tafjorden which flow west to east. The main Valldal valley runs to the northeast from the fjord. The valleys are surrounded by the Tafjordfjella mountain range. The mountains Puttegga, Karitinden, and Tordsnose sit on the eastern border of the municipality. Reinheimen National Park is located partially in the municipality of Norddal.
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