Romsdal
Encyclopedia
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 the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal
is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city.-The name:...
, located between Nordmøre
Nordmøre
Nordmøre is a traditional district in the Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. The area comprises the northern third of the county including the municipalities of Kristiansund, Averøy, Tingvoll, Surnadal, Rindal, Aure, Halsa, Eide, Sunndal, Gjemnes, and Smøla...
and Sunnmøre
Sunnmøre
Sunnmøre is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal, Sande, Skodje, Haram, Stordal, Stranda, Sula, Sykkylven, Ulstein, Vanylven, Volda, Ørskog,...
. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra
Aukra
Aukra is a village and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Romsdalen. The administrative centre is the village of Aukra....
, Fræna
Fræna
Fræna is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Romsdal. The municipality is located on the Romsdal peninsula surrounding the Frænfjorden, the eastern shore of the Julsund strait, and includes most of the Hustadvika area...
, Midsund
Midsund
Midsund is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre is the village of Midsund on Otrøya island. The municipality consists of the islands of Otrøya, Midøya, Dryna, and the smaller Midsund is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal...
, Molde
Molde
is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The municipality is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord...
, Nesset
Nesset
Nesset is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal Peninsula. The administrative centre is the village of Eidsvåg. Other population centers include Rausand, Boggestranda, Myklebostad, Eresfjord, and Eikesdalen....
, Rauma
Rauma, Norway
Rauma is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre is the village of Åndalsnes. Other villages include Vågstranda, Voll, Innfjorden, Veblungsnes, Verma, Isfjorden, Eidsbygda, Rødven, Åfarnes, and Mittet...
, Sandøy
Sandøy
Sandøy is an island municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre is the village of Steinshamn. Other villages include Ona and Myklebost...
, and Vestnes
Vestnes
Vestnes is a village and a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, a 35 minute ferry ride from the town of Molde. Vestnes is part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vestnes...
. It is named for the valley of Romsdalen
Romsdalen
Romsdalen is a valley running through the municipalities of Rauma in Møre og Romsdal County and Lesja in Oppland county Norway.-Location:The river Rauma follows the Romsdalen valley from lake Lesjaskogsvatnet to the town of Åndalsnes, where it empties into the Romsdalsfjord. The Rauma Line and...
, which covers part of Rauma.
The largest town is Molde
Molde
is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The municipality is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord...
, which also is the seat of Møre og Romsdal County Municipality. Åndalsnes
Åndalsnes
is a town in the municipality of Rauma in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Åndalsnes is the administrative center of Rauma. The town has a population of 2,207...
is a town located near the mouth of the river Rauma in the municipality
Municipalities of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...
of Rauma
Rauma, Norway
Rauma is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre is the village of Åndalsnes. Other villages include Vågstranda, Voll, Innfjorden, Veblungsnes, Verma, Isfjorden, Eidsbygda, Rødven, Åfarnes, and Mittet...
. The Rauma Line comes from Dombås
Dombås
The village of lies in the Dovre municipality and serves as an administrative center in the upper Gudbrandsdal, Norway. It lies at an important junction of roads: south leading to the current capital of Norway, Oslo, west via Lesja leading to Åndalsnes on the sea and north to the old capital,...
and terminates at Åndalsnes.
The name
The Norse form of the name was Raumsdalr. The first element is the genitive case of a name *Raumr m, probably the old (uncompounded) name of the RomsdalsfjordRomsdalsfjord
Romsdalsfjord is the ninth longest fjord in Norway. It is long and located in the Romsdal district of Møre og Romsdal county. It flows through the municipalities of Midsund, Haram, Vestnes, Molde, Nesset, and Rauma...
, again derived from the name of the river Rauma, i.e. "The Dale of Rauma".
The name Rauma is itself a mystery, but a tantalizing clue may be found in the works of the Gothic
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
historian Jordanes
Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
. He mentions a tribe called 'raumii', which might be the origin of both the landscape Romerike
Romerike
Romerike is a traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Akershus municipalities Fet, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen, Skedsmo, Sørum and Aurskog-Høland in the southern end , and Ullensaker, Gjerdrum, Nannestad, Nes, Eidsvoll and Hurdal...
(o.no raumariki) and the river Rauma.
Geography
The Romsdal Valley, through which the Rauma river passes to the Romsdalfjord, has been described as a worthy rival for Yosemite, being surrounded by the mountain range RomsdalsalpeneRomsdalsalpene
Romsdalsalpene is mountain range surrounding the Romsdalen valley in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. They are primarily located in the municipalities of Rauma, Nesset, and Norddal.Mountains in the range include:* Store Venjetind at...
. The 1,550 meter tall Romsdalhorn has been compared to the Matterhorn
Matterhorn
The Matterhorn , Monte Cervino or Mont Cervin , is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points...
, while the Trolltindane peaks, according to legend a bridal procession of trolls turned to stone by the morning light, stands opposite across the Rauma. The North Face of Trollryggen
Trollryggen
Trollryggen is a peak along the Trolltindene ridge along the Romsdalen valley. It is located in the municipality of Rauma in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The Rauma River and the highway lie just to the east of the ridge.....
peak (1,740 m), Trollveggen (Troll Wall
Troll Wall
The Troll Wall is part of the mountain massif Trolltindene in the Romsdalen valley, near Åndalsnes and Molde, on the Norwegian west coast. Trollveggen is part of the Reinheimen National Park in the municipality of Rauma in Møre og Romsdal county. The Troll Wall is the tallest vertical rock face...
), is the tallest vertical cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
in Europe. Norway's most famous hair-pin road is Trollstigen
Trollstigen
Trollstigen is a mountain road in Rauma, Norway, part of Norwegian National Road 63 connecting Åndalsnes in Rauma and Valldal in Norddal. It is a popular tourist attraction due to its steep incline of 9% and eleven hairpin bends up a steep mountain side...
, or "Troll's Trail", which leads to the south out of Åndalsnes
Åndalsnes
is a town in the municipality of Rauma in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Åndalsnes is the administrative center of Rauma. The town has a population of 2,207...
to the beautiful Geirangerfjord
Geirangerfjord
The Geiranger Fjord is a fjord in the Sunnmøre region of Møre og Romsdal county in Norway. It is in the municipality of Stranda. It is a long branch of the Storfjord...
.
The Rauma river originates in Lesjaskogsvatnet
Lesjaskogsvatnet
Lesjaskogsvatnet is a lake which serves as the headwaters for Gudbrandsdalslågen . Gudbrandsdalslågen flows through the Gudbrandsdal valley bottom, ending in lake Mjøsa....
, a lake with outlets at both ends, in the adjacent mountain municipality of Lesja
Lesja
Lesja is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lesja....
. A dam was constructed by the Lesja Iron Works
Lesjaverk
Lesjaverk is a village in Lesja municipality in the upper Gudbrandsdal valley of Oppland county, Norway. It lies approximately 25 miles north of Dombås on the Raumabanen railway line. European route E136 goes from Ålesund up through the Romsdal valley and passes through Lesjaverk to end at Dombås...
in the 1660s to improve transportation obstructed the Rauma and caused the water to flow both west to the Rauma and eastward into the river Lågen
Gudbrandsdalslågen
The Gudbrandsdalslågen river flows through the Gudbrandsdal of Norway.The Gudbrandsdalslågen begins in the lake Lesjaskogsvatnet , which lies in Lesja municipality in Oppland. Lesjavatn is the only lake in Norway which has two outlets; they flow into two of Norway’s more famous rivers...
.
History
In the early Viking AgeViking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
, before Harald Fairhair, Romsdal was a petty kingdom
Petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is one of a number of small kingdoms, described as minor or "petty" by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it...
.
Legendary history
According to legend, Romsdal is an eponym after Raum the OldRaum the Old
Raum the Old is a legendary king in Norway in the Hversu Noregr byggdist and in Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar. He was said to have been ugly, as was his daughter, Bryngerd, who was married to King Álf. Indeed, in Old Norse, raumr means a big and ugly person...
, son of the equally eponymous king Nor, legendary founder of Norway.
Jøtunbjørn ('Giant-bear') the Old, was the son of Raum the Old and Bergdis, a giant’s daughter. He inherited Raumsdal (modern: Romsdal) from his father, and was again the father of King Raum, who is the father of Hrossbjörn, who is the father of Orm Broken-shell, who is the father of Knatti, who had two sons: Thórolf and Ketill Raum (in one version, Thórolf and Ketill Raum are sons of Orm).
Among Thórolf’s descendents, according to legend, came some of the first settlers on Iceland.
The Laxdaela Saga claims that Raumsdal was the home of Ketill Flatnose, a descendent of Ketill Raum. In the 850s CE Ketil was a prominent viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
chieftain. He conquered the Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. Some sources refer to him as "King of the Sudreys" (Hebrides), but there is little evidence that he himself claimed that title. The Norwegian king appointed him the ruler of these islands, but he failed to pay tribute to Harald Fairhair and was outlawed.
He and his family left Norway and fled westwards across the sea, to Scotland, then Ireland, where he married off his daughter, Aud the Deep-Minded
Aud the Deep-Minded
Aud the Deep-Minded was an earlier settler in Iceland.-Biography:...
, to Olaf the White
Olaf the White
Olaf the White was a viking sea-king who lived in the latter half of the 9th century.Olaf was born around 840, possibly in Ireland. His father was the Hiberno-Norse warlord Ingjald Helgasson...
, king of Dublin. Aud went eventually to Iceland where she began that country's shift to Christianity. The crosses she had erected to mark her places of prayer are still to be seen in their original locations.
The 9th Century
Ragnvald EysteinssonRagnvald Eysteinsson
Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist...
(830–890) (Norwegian: Ragnvald Mørejarl), was jarl (earl
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
) of Møre, approximately of today's Møre og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal
is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city.-The name:...
. He died at the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
. He was son of King Eystein "Glumra (the Noisy)" Ivarsson of Oppland
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....
, and a contemporary of king Harald Fairhair, whom he supported in the unification process, and received his fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
from. He is likely to have resided on or nearby the important township of Veøya
Veøya
Veøya is an island in the municipality of Molde in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located at a junction of the three main branches of the Romsdalsfjord between Sekken and the mainland near the village of Nesjestranda. Veøy consists of one larger and two smaller islands...
, Romsdal's Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
hub for commerce and communication.
With Ragnhild Rolfsdaughter, he had the sons Hrolf Ganger, and Tore Teiande who inherited the earldom after his father’s death. Another, illegitimate, son was Turf-Einar, ancestor of the earls of Orkney. Although historians are divided on this, Hrolf Ganger might be identical with Rollo of Normandy
Rollo of Normandy
Rollo , baptised Robert and so sometimes numbered Robert I to distinguish him from his descendants, was a Norse nobleman of Norwegian or Danish descent and founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy...
, and if so the great-great-great-grandfather of William I of England
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
.
The legend says Ragnvald was the one to cut the hair of king Harald Fairhair after he became king over all of Norway.
The 12th Century
In 1122, while a guest at Hustad in Romsdal, king Eystein IEystein I of Norway
Eystein I Magnusson was king of Norway from 1103 to 1123.-Biography:Eystein became king, together with his brothers Sigurd and Olaf, when his father Magnus Barefoot died in 1103...
was taken ill and died. His body was taken in impressive funeral procession to burial at Nidaros
Nidaros
Nidaros or Niðarós was during the Middle Ages, the old name of Trondheim, Norway . Until the Reformation, Nidaros remained the centre of the spiritual life of the country...
.
At Veøy
Veøy
Veøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. It initially consisted of Vestnes, as well as the southern part of Molde and the northern part of Rauma. Vestnes was demerged in 1838, later the same year the municipality was established. From 1964, the municipality was split between Molde...
, an island in the middle of the Romsdalfjord which had been in time immemorial a religious place, a church dedicated to St. Peter was constructed directly over an ancient site of heathen sacrifice at the close of the 12th century.
The 17th Century
In 1600 two new trading centers were opened in Romsdal: Romsdal market and Devold near Åndalsnes, and Molde ladestad. The former was an important outlet for the ironworks at LesjaLesja
Lesja is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lesja....
, providing an outlet for their products as well as a source of supplies. Molde inherited the ancient role formerly held by Veøy as the principal market town for the region.
A Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
mercenary force landed here at Isfjorden on their way to Sweden. The incursion was stopped at the Battle of Kringen
Battle of Kringen
The Battle of Kringen was a battle perpetrated by a Norwegian peasant militia against Scottish mercenary soldiers who were on their way to enlist in the Swedish army for the Kalmar War....
.
In the 1658 Treaty of Roskilde
Treaty of Roskilde
The Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February or 8 March 1658 during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...
the Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
region of Norway was ceded to Sweden, down to the north bank of the Romsdalfjord. The Romsdal farmers defied the Swedish taxes and military conscription, and the Swedish governor was forced to send a full company of soldiers, and 50 cavalry besides, to collect taxes. Following the attack on Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and the city's successful defence, and the reconquest by Norwegian forces of Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, the Treaty of Copenhagen in 1660 restored that province to Norway. The few months of experience with Swedish taxation and conscription left such a bitter taste that it strengthened Norwegian unity and patriotism, making resistance to Swedish invasions of Norway stronger over the next 80 years.
The 20th Century
After the German World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
invasion of Norway
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
in April, 1940, British troops landed in Åndalsnes
Battle of Åndalsnes
The Battle of Åndalsnes took place in Åndalsnes in Romsdal, Norway in 1940 during the Norwegian Campaign of World War II.After the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, British troops landed in Åndalsnes as part of a pincer movement to take mid-Norwegian city Trondheim...
as a part of a pincer movement to retake the key mid-Norwegian city of Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
.