Hovin is a former municipality in

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

county, Norway. It was created on 1 January 1886 by a split from

Gransherad Gransherad is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway, located north-west of the city Notodden. ''Grandsherred'' was created in 1859 by the merger of the parishes Hovin in Tinn and Gransherad in Hjartdal. On January 1, 1886 Hovin was se ...

. Gransherad, which consisted of the parishes Hovin and Gransherad, had already been formed as a border adjustment between

Tinn Tinn is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Rjukan. The parish of ''T ...

and

Hjartdal Hjartdal is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sauland. The munic ...

in 1860. Hovin parish had 815 inhabitants in 1860, and the new municipality had a population of 885 in 1886. On 24 March 1903 an uninhabited part of Tinn was moved to Hovin by royal resolution. On 1 January 1964 the district of

Rudsgrendi Rudsgrendi or Rugsgrend is a village in Notodden Municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The village is located on the western shore of the large lake Tinnsjå, halfway between the village of Gransherad and the town of Rjukan. On t ...

with 21 inhabitants was incorporated into

Notodden Notodden () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Øst-Telemark. ...

municipality to the east. The rest of Hovin, with 461 inhabitants, was incorporated into Tinn.

The name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old farm Hovin (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is 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 of Scandinavia and t ...

''Hofvin''), since the first church was built there. The first element is '' hof'', Norse meaning a "temple (for the Norse gods)," and the last element is ''vin'' f 'meadow'. There are several buildings from Hovin at the Norwegian Folklore Museum in Oslo.

References

* Former municipalities of Norway Villages in Vestfold og Telemark {{Telemark-geo-stub