Upper Telemark () is a traditional district in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

county in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The area includes the inland areas of

. More than two-thirds of the total area of Telemark—more than —belong to the traditional region of Upper Telemark. Conversely, the area of "Lower" Telemark refers to the more densely populated, flatter coastal area of

Grenland Grenland is a traditional district in Telemark county, in the south-east of Norway. "Grenland" has referred to varying locations throughout history. In modern times, Grenland refers to the areas of the municipalities of Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, ...

and traditionally also includes Central Telemark. Upper Telemark has a varied and often scenic landscape, with many hills, mountains, valleys and lakes. Upper Telemark was originally known simply as Telemark and is named for the

Thelir The Thelir or Thilir (Old Norse: ''Þilir''; Norwegian Bokmål: ''teler''; Norwegian Nynorsk: ''telar'' or ''teler'') was a North Germanic tribe that inhabited the region now known as Upper Telemark in modern Norway during the Migration Period an ...

(

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

: ''Þilir''), the ancient North Germanic tribe that inhabited what is now called Upper Telemark and

Numedal Numedal () is a valley and a traditional district in Eastern Norway located within the county of Buskerud. It traditionally includes the municipalities Flesberg, Nore og Uvdal and Rollag. Administratively, it now also includes Kongsberg. ...

in the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

and the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

. Upper Telemark is known for its folk traditions within music, clothing, handcrafts, food and architecture. The region is also distinctly marked by its dialect of Norwegian. The district is also conventionally divided into

Vest-Telemark Vest-Telemark () is a traditional district in Norway. The area comprises the western areas of the larger region known as Upper Telemark () in Vestfold og Telemark county. The region consists of six municipalities: Fyresdal, Tokke, Vinje, Nis ...

and

Aust-Telemark Aust-Telemark () is a traditional district in Telemark county in Norway. The district comprises five municipalities: Hjartdal, Midt-Telemark, Nome, Notodden, and Tinn. The largest population centres in the region are the cities Notodden and Rjuk ...

, with Vest-Telemark consisting of

Vinje Vinje is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vest-Telemark which is part of Øvre Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Åmot. Other villages in the muni ...

Tokke Tokke is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dal ...

Seljord Seljord is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Seljord. Other villages in the municipalit ...

Fyresdal Fyresdal is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moland. Other villages in Fyresdal include Kilegrend, Øvre Bir ...

Kviteseid Kviteseid is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Vest-Telemark and Upper Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kviteseidbyen. Other villages in Kviteseid ...

, and

Nissedal Nissedal is a rural Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark region of Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative centr ...

. Aust-Telemark always consists of

Hjartdal Hjartdal is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Upper Telemark and Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sauland. Other villages in the municipality ...

Notodden is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden. Other population centres include the villages of Bolkesjø, G ...

, and

Tinn Tinn is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Aust-Telemark and Upper Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Rjukan. Some of the villages in Tinn include Atr� ...

, but more recently

Midt-Telemark Midt-Telemark is a Districts of Norway, traditional district of Norway situated in Telemark county. It is made up of two municipalities: Midt-Telemark (municipality), Midt-Telemark and Nome, Norway, Nome. The largest population centres in the regio ...

and

Nome Nome may refer to: Country subdivision * Nome (Egypt), an administrative division within ancient Egypt * Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the ''peripheries of Greece'' (, pl. ) Places United States * Nome, Alaska ...

are also usually included as well. Whereas Lower Telemark was traditionally dominated by the burghers of the cities, Upper Telemark was for centuries dominated by a close-knit " aristocracy of officials" comprised by a handful of families which monopolized the state and church offices in the region, notably the families

Paus The Paus family (), also styled ''de Paus'', is a Norwegian family that emerged as a priestly family from Medieval Oslo in the 16th century. For centuries, it belonged to the " aristocracy of officials," especially in the clergy and legal prof ...

Blom Blom is a European service provider within acquisition, processing and modelling of geographical information. Blom maintains European databases with collections of map, images and models. With particular focus on online services, Blom provides d ...

, Ørn, and Morland.

Etymology

The

form of the name was ''Þelamörk'' or ''Þilamörk''. The first element is ''Þilir'' was the name of the inhabitants, and is assumed to be connected with ''Þelli'' (

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

). The last element ''mörk'' means forest or

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

. The prefix ''Øvre'' means "upper".

History

Traditionally, the term Telemark only referred to this area and

. In 1200, the current Upper Telemark and

were merged into ''Skiens syssel'', which later became Bratsbergs amt, and then later it was renamed Telemark county. Upper Telemark also corresponds to the Øvre Telemark prosti, a deanery within the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

. Upper Telemark comprises 11 municipalities and more than 80% of Telemark, about . The border between Upper Telemark and Grenland has long been discussed among

philologists Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. In an old travel book about the county, A.L. Coll has written that the border is defined by the mountainous cleft, that is formed by the lakes

Bolkesjø Bolkesjø is a village in Notodden Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The village is located along the Norwegian county road A Norwegian county road ( or ) is a highway in Norway owned and maintained by the local county municipality. S ...

, Ørvella, Øverbø-moen, Seljordsvatnet, Flåvatn, and Fjågesund or Bjårvatn.

Media gallery

Kviteseidvatnet 2.jpg, Kviteseidvatnet in

Bilde-Sandfloegga 1.jpg, Sandfloegga seen from Holmasjøen in

Tuddal01.JPG,

Tuddal Tuddal is a village in Hjartdal Municipality in Telemark county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island o ...

Bradsberg-amt.jpg, Bratsberg amt with Upper and Lower Telemark Nova et accurata tabula episcopatuum Stavangriensis, bergensis…. - no-nb krt 00534.jpg, A 1636 map of southern Norway shows (Upper) Telemark as a mostly white field

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2023 Districts of Telemark