Hallingdal - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Hallingdal is a valley

Valley

In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

and traditional district

Districts of Norway

The country Norway is historically divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords,...

in Buskerud

Buskerud

is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...

county in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It consists of the municipalities of Flå

Flå

Flå is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Flå. The municipality of Flå was established when it was separated from the municipality of Nes on 1 January 1905...

, Nes

Nes, Buskerud

Nes is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Nesbyen....

, Gol

Gol, Norway

is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Gol. Gol was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...

, Hemsedal

Hemsedal

Hemsedal is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Trøym. In 1897, Hemsedal was separated from the municipality of Gol to become a municipality of its own.Hemsedal is the...

, Ål

Ål

Ål is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål....

and Hol

Hol

Hol is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.-Administrative history:The area of Hol was separated from the municipality of Ål in 1877 to become a separate municipality. In 1937 a part of neighboring Uvdal with 220 inhabitants was moved to Hol municipality. The area of Dagali was transferred...

History

Ancient routes went to Vestlandet

Vestlandet

Western Norway is the region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the counties Rogaland, Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane, and Møre og Romsdal and the region has a population of approximately 1.3 million people. The largest city is Bergen, second largest is Stavanger...

through Valdres

Valdres

Valdres is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal.Administratively, Valdres belongs to Oppland. It consists of the municipalities Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre, Vang and Etnedal. The main town in the region is...

and Hallingdal and down Røldal

Røldal

Røldal is a former municipality in Hordaland county, Norway.The parish of Suldal had to be divided into two formannskapsdistrikt January 1, 1838 – this because the main part of the parish belonged to the county of Rogaland, while the annex Røldal belonged to the county of Hordaland...

to Odda

Odda

is a municipality and town in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Odda was separated from Ullensvang on 1 July 1913 and on 1 January 1964 Røldal was merged with Odda. The town of Odda is the centre of the landscape of Hardanger, located at the end of the Hardangerfjord.In 1927, Erling Johnson,...

. Reflecting this route, Hallingdal and its neighboring valley of Valdres were originally populated by migrants from Vestlandet and spoke a western dialect

Dialect

The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

. The actual migration routes are hard to map, and the migrants may have blended with local hunters from the mountains around the valley. In recognition of this, Cardinal Nicholas Breakespear

Pope Adrian IV

Pope Adrian IV , born Nicholas Breakspear or Breakspeare, was Pope from 1154 to 1159.Adrian IV is the only Englishman who has occupied the papal chair...

, who was in Scandinavia as papal legate

Papal legate

A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....

in 1153, included these two valleys in the Diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

of Stavanger

Stavanger

Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...

.

From early on, Hallingdal prospered from trading with iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

, produced from local marshlands, and developed trading routes throughout the Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

. In later centuries, the hallingdal farmers traded cattle over the mountains from west to east. Many known locals were involved in this trade. As the soil in the valley could be barren, trading was necessary for life support. In Norway, Hallings reportedly have a knack for trading even today.

Administration

Municipalities with Hallingdal include Flå

Flå

, Nes

Nes, Buskerud

Nes is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Nesbyen....

, Gol

Gol, Norway

, Hemsedal

Hemsedal

, Ål

Ål

Ål is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål....

and Hol

Hol

cooperate through the Hallingdal Regional Council. The area is within the jurisdiction area of the Hallingdal District Court (Hallingdal tingrett).

Etymology

The Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

form of the name was Haddingjadalr. The first element seem to be the genitive case of a male name Haddingi, the last element is dalr m 'valley, dale'. The first element is also connected to the word hadr, meaning hair

Hair

Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....

.
(In Flateyjarbók

Flateyjarbók

The Flatey Book, is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name Codex Flateyensis.- Description :...

is a man Haddingr mentioned as the king of Hallingdal. Compare with the first element in > Gudbrandsdal

Gudbrandsdal

The Gudbrandsdalen is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Oppland. The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer at Mjøsa, extending 230 km toward Romsdal...

Local Culture

The inhabitants are often called hallinger (singular halling). Halling dialect (Hallingdialekt) is a dialect from Hallingdal. It belongs to a dialect group traditionally spoken in Norwegian mountainous areas.

Hallingdal has developed its own brand of the rosemaling

Rosemaling

Rosemåling, or rosemaling, Norwegian for "decorative painting", is the name of a form of decorative folk art that originated in the rural valleys of Norway.Some art historians interpret "rose" as a reference to the rose flower, although the floral elements are often...

, with a distinct symmetric style, different from the style in Telemark

Telemark

is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...

and Valdres

Valdres

. The valley also fostered a number of known painters during the 18th and 19th century.

The music of Hallingdal is traditionally dominated by the hardanger fiddle

Hardingfele

A Hardanger fiddle is a traditional stringed instrument used originally to play the music of Norway. In modern designs, the instruments are very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings and thinner wood...

, which was taken into use from c. 1750. The dance tunes of the valley have a distinct pattern, following three different lines of tradition, one in the south, at Nes, and two in the area of Ål

Ål

Ål is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål....

. The tunes from Ål are recognized by a distinct rolling on the fiddle-bow, and the tunes are fairly old.

From early on, Hallingdal also developed a tradition for langeleik

Langeleik

The langeleik also called langleik is a Norwegian stringed folklore musical instrument, a droned zither.-Description:The langeleik has only one melody string and up to 8 drone strings....

, partly replaced by the fiddle. The folk music tradition is held alive even today in the valley. After the building of the railway line Oslo-Bergen, the accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

came into use, and many fiddle tunes were adapted to the new instrument - usually a diatonic button accordion. Hallingdal is the only area where the old fiddle music were adapted like this in local tradition.

Halling is the name of an old folk dance that is traditionally used in Norway. Each dancer is alone, in contrast to the more common couple’s dances. The climax of the dance is known as thrown Halling, where the goal is to kick down a hat from a stick. The dance is often called Lausdans meaning loose in Hallingdal and Valdres, but known as the Halling in most other valleys.

The parents of Norwegian romanticist painter Hans Gude

Hans Gude

Hans Fredrik Gude was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters...

lived in Hallingdal until 1852, and Gude painted many of his works there.

External links

Hallingdal Folk Museum

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