Tovdal is a former municipality in Aust-Agder

Aust-Agder

is a county in Norway, bordering Telemark, Rogaland, and Vest-Agder. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which is 2.2% of the total population in Norway. Its area is . The administrative center of the county is in Arendal....

 county

Counties of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...

, 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...

. Tovdal was made up of the 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...

 surrounding the Tovdalselva

Tovdalselva

Tovdalselva or Topdalselva is long and is one of the longest rivers in Southern Norway. The river flows from the northeast to the southwest and reaches the sea at the Topdalsfjorden between Hamresanden and Kjevik...

. It is a part of the present-day municipality of Åmli

Åmli

Åmli is a municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. It is located in the traditional region of Sørlandet. The main population centre and administrative center is the village of Åmli which lies along the river Nidelva.-Name:...

 in the Sørlandet region

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,...

.

Name

The name of the municipality comes from 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....

 word Þofnardalr. The first element Þofn is the old river name, now the Tovdalselva. The last element is dalr which means "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...

" or "dale".

History

Lille Topdal was a part of the municipality of Åmli

Åmli

Åmli is a municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. It is located in the traditional region of Sørlandet. The main population centre and administrative center is the village of Åmli which lies along the river Nidelva.-Name:...

 starting on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...

). On 1 January 1908, Åmli was split into three separate municipalities: Lille Topdal (population: 389), Gjevedal

Gjøvdal

Gjøvdal is a former municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. The municipality covered the Gjøv river valley and the surrounding moors. It is currently part of the municipality of Åmli in the Sørlandet region.-Name:...

(population: 590), and Åmli (population: 2,024). In 1922, the name was changed from Lille Topdal to Tovdal. On 1 January 1967, Tovdal (population: 161) was merged back into the municipality of Åmli.