Nissedal

Nissedal kommune
Municipality
Coat of arms Telemark within Norway
Nissedal within Telemark
Coordinates: 59°4′35″N 8°31′6″E / 59.07639°N 8.51833°E / 59.07639; 8.51833Coordinates: 59°4′35″N 8°31′6″E / 59.07639°N 8.51833°E / 59.07639; 8.51833
Country	Norway
County	Telemark
District	Vest-Telemark
Administrative centre	Treungen
Government
• Mayor (2015)	Halvor Homme (Ap)
Area
• Total	905 km2 (349 sq mi)
• Land	788 km2 (304 sq mi)
Area rank	123 in Norway
Population (2004)
• Total	1,429
• Rank	377 in Norway
• Density	2/km2 (5/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	-3.2 %
Demonym(s)	Nissedøl[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0830
Official language form	Nynorsk
Website	www.nissedal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Nissedal 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 Treungen. The municipality of Nissedal was established on January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Nissedal is mostly located on the less rugged eastern shore of Nisser Lake. The sandy shores of the lake is used for sunbathing, while the lake is used for swimming, boating, fishing and more. Perch, Trout, Lavaret and Arctic char are some of the fish species found in the lake. Due to its many campgrounds and places for outdoor activities, Nissedal has been nicknamed the Telemark Riviera.^[2]

Besides the lake, another attraction in Nissedal is the Nissedal Potholes (Jettegryene). Carved during the Ice Age, the giant's kettle functions as a water park during summer months.^[3][4][5] Other attractions include mountains such as Hægefjell, Ånundsbufjellet, Langfjell, Skålfjell and Baremslandsfjellet.^[6][7]

The municipality is bordered by Fyresdal to the west, Kviteseid to the north, Drangedal to the east, and Gjerstad, Vegårshei and Åmli municipalities to the south.

Etymology

A man in a traditional red hat by F. C. Lund.

The modern form of the name stems from Old Norse Nizidalr. The first element is the name of the lake Nizir, possibly from *Nið-sær, which is now called Nisser, and the last element is dalr "valley, dale".^[8][9]

Geography

Nissedal is a municipality covering an area of 905,2 km² in Telemark County. Nissedal municipality borders Kviteseid to the north, Fyresdal to the west, Drangedal and Gjerstad to the east, and borders Vegårshei and Åmli to the south. Nisser Lake, which is 40 kilometres in length and 250 meters deep,^[10] is the largest in the county and the seventh largest lake in Norway.^[11]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on October 30, 1992, and was designed by Halvor Holtskog jr. The arms shows three red nisseluer, traditional red woolen hats often associated with the nisse, which were commonly worn until the late 19th century by farmers and common folk. It is a canting arms, as the name Nissedal has been "translated" into a visual pun with the three woolen hats, in spite of the name having nothing to do with the folkloric nisse.

Fauna

Camping at Nisser Lake.

In 2014 two reindeer were photographed, apparently roaming in the municipality.^[12] More commonly encountered wildlife includes the Mountain hare, European badger, European beaver, Roe deer, Elk, Red fox, European hedgehog, European pine marten and Norway lemming. More rare but occasionally encountered are the Gray wolf, Eurasian lynx and Brown bear.

Notable natives

• Jan Gunnar Solli - footballer
• Monika Nordli - singer/songwriter

• 
  Jan Gunnar Solli

Notes

References