Gildeskål

In 1853, the eastern district of Gildeskaal (population: about 1,150) was separated to become the new municipality of Beiarn. This left Gildeskaal with about 2,400 residents. The municipal boundaries have not changed since.^[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gildeskaal farm (Old Norse: Gildaskáli), since the first church was built there (Old Gildeskål Church. The first element is the plural genitive case of gildi which means "feast" or "banquet" and the last element is skáli which means "hall".^[3]^[4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1988). The arms show a silver cup on a blue background. The arms are canting since the meaning of the name Gildeskål refers to a banquet hall.^[4]

See also: Coat-of-arms of Jevnaker.

Churches

The 900-year-old Old Gildeskål Church

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Gildeskål. It is part of the Bodø deanery in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

**Churches in Gildeskål**
Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Location of the Church	Year Built
Gildeskål	Gildeskål Church	Inndyr	1881
	Old Gildeskål Church	Inndyr	1100s
	Saura Church	Saura	1884
	Mevik Chapel	Mevik	1910
	Nordstranda Chapel	Lekanger	1963
	Sørfjorden Chapel	Sørfinnset	1957

Geography

View from Sandhornøya, in Gildeskål

Gildeskål is a coastal municipality that encompasses part of the mainland as well as many islands. Major islands include Fleinvær, Fugløya, Nordarnøya, Sandhornøya, and Sørarnøya. The southern part of the municipality includes part of the Saltfjellet mountains and the northern part of the municipality borders the Saltfjorden and the Vestfjorden.

There are many lakes in the municipality including: Fellvatnet, Langvatnet, Litle Sokumvatnet, and Sokumvatnet.

Buildings and structures

Sandhornøy Bridge connects the island of Sandhornøya to the mainland.

There is a VLF-transmitter in Gildeskål that is used for sending messages to submerged submarines (call sign: JXN, frequency: 16.4 kHz). It uses as antenna multiple wires spun between two mountains (photo). The transmitter building is located at 66°58′58″N 13°52′23″E / 66.98278°N 13.87306°E / 66.98278; 13.87306 (JXN transmitter).

References

↑ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
↑ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt (in Norwegian) (16 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 182.
↑ 4.0 4.1 "Kommunevåpenet" (in Norwegian). Gildeskål kommune. Retrieved 2008-11-20.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gildeskål.

Nordland travel guide from Wikivoyage
Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway

v t e Municipalities of Nordland

Alstahaug Andøy Ballangen Beiarn Bindal Bø Bodø Brønnøy Dønna Evenes Fauske Flakstad Gildeskål Grane Hadsel Hamarøy Hattfjelldal Hemnes Herøy Leirfjord Lødingen Lurøy Meløy Moskenes Narvik Nesna Øksnes Rana Rødøy Røst Saltdal Sømna Sørfold Sortland Steigen Tjeldsund Træna Tysfjord Værøy Vågan Vefsn Vega Vestvågøy Vevelstad

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