Seljord

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Seljord kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms
Telemark within
Norway
Seljord within Telemark
Coordinates: 59°30′48″N 8°38′56″E / 59.51333°N 8.64889°E / 59.51333; 8.64889Coordinates: 59°30′48″N 8°38′56″E / 59.51333°N 8.64889°E / 59.51333; 8.64889
Country Norway
County Telemark
District Vest-Telemark
Administrative centre Seljord
Government
 • Mayor (2013) Solveig Sundbø Abrahamsen (H)
Area
 • Total 715 km2 (276 sq mi)
 • Land 670 km2 (260 sq mi)
Area rank 155 in Norway
Population (2013)
 • Total 2,944
 • Density 4/km2 (10/sq mi)
Demonym Seljording[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-0828
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.seljord.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Seljord is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Seljord. The parish of Siljord was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

Seljord is famous for its sea serpent, Selma, who allegedly lives in Lake Seljord.

The yearly Dyrsku'n market, held since 1866, attracts 60-80,000 visitors each year.

General information

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Seljord farm (Old Norse: Seljugerði), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of selja which means "sallow-tree" or "willow" and the last element is gerði which means "field". Prior to 1889, the name was written "Silgjord" or "Sillejord".[2]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 15 September 1989. The arms show the sea serpent Selma in a gold-color on a red background.[3]

Notable natives

References

  1. ↑ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. 
  2. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1914). Norske gaardnavne: Bratsbergs amt (dokpro.uio.no) (7 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius bogtrikkeri. pp. 321–322.  (Norwegian)
  3. ↑ "Kommunevåpenet". Seljord kommune. Retrieved 2009-01-17.  (Norwegian)

External links

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