Hvaler is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

that is a group of islands in the southern part of

Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of

Skjærhalden Skjærhalden is the administrative centre of Hvaler municipality, Norway. It is located on the island Kirkeøy Kirkeøy is the largest island in the Norwegian municipality of Hvaler. Its name means "church island" and is derived from Hvaler Church ...

, on the island of

Kirkeøy Kirkeøy is the largest island in the Norwegian municipality of Hvaler. Its name means "church island" and is derived from Hvaler Church which is on the island and is also the main church of the municipality. The island covers an area of and had ...

. The only police station in the municipality is located in Skjærhalden. Hvaler was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see ''

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

'').

Name

The name is the

plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...

form of ''hval'', which means "

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

". The form and shape of the islands resemble a pod of whales. Prior to 1889, the name was spelled Hvaløerne, meaning the whale isles.

Coat-of-arms

The

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...

is from modern times. It was granted on 9 December 1983. The arms show a silver-colored boat on a blue background. This boat is the type that was typical in the 13th century. This was chosen since this island municipality has been dependent on boats for all its history, and because

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

have been the main economic activities for many centuries.

Culture

''Hvalerdrakten'' is the traditional costume or ''

bunad ''Bunad'' (, plural: ''bunader''/''bunadar'') is a Norwegian umbrella term encompassing, in its broadest sense, a range of both traditional rural clothes (mostly dating to the 18th and 19th centuries) as well as modern 20th-century folk costume ...

'' for women in Hvaler. The bodice and skirt are blue or black and are made from 100% wool. The shirt is white and made from 100% cotton. Several symbolic expressions exist in the embroideries and the accompanying silver brooches. The embroidered flowers are characteristic to the islands' flora and symbolize the different islands that constitute the municipality. All the silver that belongs to the costume is portraying the locally famous Hvalerbåten (The Boat of Hvaler) and herring, which has been an important commodity to the islands through the ages. All patterns used in this costume have been patented. Since 1999, ''hvalerdrakten'' have been manufactured by Hvalerdraktstua AS. Hvaler kirke, sydvest 02-1200

Hvaler Church

Hvaler Church (''Hvaler Kirke'') is a medieval-era church, probably begun around 1000-1100 AD. Hvaler Church is the main church of the archipelago. It is located on

in the extreme south of the parish. It is a stone church with a rectangular nave and narrow choir and apse. The pulpit is from the 1600s. In 1750, the church received a new altar which in 1759 was supplemented with an altarpiece mounted on the altar. Between 1953 and 1955, the church went through a thorough restoration led by antiquarian

Håkon Christie Håkon Andreas Christie (30 August 1922 – 14 December 2010) was a Norwegian architectural historian, antiquarian and author. Together with his wife, Sigrid Marie Christie (18 April 1923 - 16 May 2004) he worked from 1950 on the history of Nor ...

in connection with the church's restoration. The J. H. Jorgensen organ is from 1955.

Geography

South of Skjærhalden lies a chain of a few inhabitable islands and several hundreds of smaller islands and rocks. The bigger islands are named, clockwise, Nordre Sandøy, Søndre Sandøy, Hærføl, Søndre Lauer, and Nordre Lauer. Another smaller island is

Tisler Tisler is a small island in southeast Norway. The name of the island comes from the Norse word for thistle, þistill', or tistel' in Norwegian, coming from the round shape of the thistle's pericarp. Tisler is among the southernmost of the Hvaler i ...

. On all of these islands, with the exception of Søndre Lauer, summer houses fill the landscape. The islands of Søndre Sandøy and Hærføl are the two only islands that have local shops and roads which support car traffic. Nordre Sandøy, situated on the north end of this chain of islands in southern Hvaler, is one of the largest islands with a distinct

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

diversity. Although equipped with a good stretch of roads, car traffic is forbidden there and no commercial activity whatsoever exists. In many ways, this gives its population (mostly summertime vacationers) a greater feeling of isolation from the average Norwegian's hectic life, and it acts as a buffer against pollution. Nordre Sandøy is thought to have been one of the bases of

Peter Tordenskjold Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskiold (28 October 1690 – 12 November 1720), commonly referred to as Tordenskjold (), was a Norwegian nobleman and flag officer who spent his career in the service of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. He rose to the ran ...

during his time as a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

. One of the bays on the island is named "Tordenskjoldsbukta" ( no, Bay of Tordenskjold). The remains of two dead pirates have been found on the island. Legend has it that he buried some of his treasure on the island. In 1997, a local boy, Simon Rene Magnussen, found three old golden coins while

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

in the area. Skjaerhalden panorama

Notable people

Egil Abrahamsen Egil Abrahamsen (born 7 February 1923) is a Norwegian ships engineer. Abrahamsen was born in Hvaler. He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1949. He was assigned with Det Norske Veritas from 1952, where he served as CEO from ...

(born 1923 in Hvaler) a Norwegian ships engineer * Vebjørn Sand (born 1966 in Bærum) a Norwegian painter and artist who was brought up in Hvaler

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

Koster/Yttre Hvaler
{{Authority control Municipalities of Østfold Municipalities of Viken (county)