Våle
Våle is a village in Re municipality, and former municipality, in Vestfold county, Norway. Våle is a rural, agricultural area, with Kirkevoll/Brekkeåsen, Rånerudåsen, Svinevoll, Sørby and Gretteåsen as more dense housing areas. The administrative centre was Sørby.
The parish of Vaale was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). According to the 1835 census the municipality had a population of 2,408. On 16 July 1873, an uninhabited part of Vaale was moved to Ramnes municipality following a royal resolution. In 1947 a part of Botne with 8 inhabitants was moved to Våle. On January 1, 2002 Våle was merged with Ramnes to form the new municipality Re. In 1996 Våle had a population of 3,868.
Våle is known for being the village where the Jarlsberg cheese first was produced. Famous residents of Våle include the author Kåre Holt (1916–1997).
The name and coat of arms
The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old farm Våle (Norse Válir), since the first church was built there. The name is the plural form of váll m (see Våler).
The municipality coat of arms was a Mistletoe, since the mistletoe grows several places in the village. In Norse mythology Hod killed Balder with a misletoe, and Våle has to revenge his death.
Until 1921 the name was written "Vaale".
References
- Dag Jukvam / Statistics Norway (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian).
- Registreringssentral for historiske data. "Hjemmehørende folkemengde Vestfold 1801-1960" (in Norwegian). University of Tromsø.
Coordinates: 59°25′N 10°16′E / 59.417°N 10.267°E
- Ascehoug og Gyldendal (1978). "Store Norske Leksikon" (in Norwegian).