Røldal is a village in the municipality of

Ullensvang Ullensvang is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre is the town of Odda. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Lofthus, Utne, Vikebygd ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

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 village lies in the Røldal valley along the Storelva river on the north end of the lake

Røldalsvatnet Røldalsvatnet is a lake in Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The lake is located about south of the town of Odda. The village of Røldal is located at the northern tip of the lake and the village of Botnen is located at the ...

. Røldal is located about southeast of the town of

Odda Odda () is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county. It was located in southeastern Hordaland c ...

. Røldal was formerly part of the independent municipality of Røldal from 1838 until 1964 when it became a part of

municipality. Then in 2020, it became part of Ullensvang. The 13th-century

Røldal Stave Church Røldal Stave Church ( no, Røldal stavkyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Røldal. It is the church for the Røldal parish which is part of the ...

is located here. The village is located at the junction of the

European route E134 European highway E 134 ( no, Europavei 134) is a European highway that crosses Norway starting at Haugesund Airport, Karmøy near the city of Haugesund on the west coast, heading over Haukeli, passing the city of Drammen, and ending in Vass ...

highway and the

Norwegian National Road 13 National Road 13 ( no, Riksvei 13, ) is a national road which runs from the town of Stavanger in Rogaland county to the village of Sogndalsfjøra in Vestland county. The route is long and runs south–north through Rogaland and Vestland count ...

. The E134 highway follows a historic route that connects Eastern and Western Norway, passing right through Røldal. It is located near the borders of three counties: Hordaland,

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

(to the south), and

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 ...

(to the east). The village has a population (2019) of 353 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of . People from this area use the

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

''røldøl'' for themselves, others who live outside of Røldal generally use the term ''røldøling''.

History

Due to its location near the border of three counties, the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Røldal has been part of three different dioceses over the centuries. It originally belonged to the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

, but it was transferred to the (new)

Diocese of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Li ...

in 1125. In 1684, it became a part of the (new) Diocese of Kristiansand. Røldal was finally transferred back to the Diocese of Bjørgvin in 1864. Historically, the Røldal area was part of the

Suldal Suldal is a municipality in the northeast corner of Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. Since 1965, the administrative centre of Suldal is the village of Sand i Ryfylke (prior to that it was the villag ...

(to the south), with Røldal being an annex to the main parish. Suldal and Røldal each had their own churches, but they shared a priest since Røldal was a sparsely populated area and could not support their own priest. Suldal was located in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

county and Røldal was located in

Søndre Bergenhus Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipali ...

county. In 1838, Røldal became a its own municipality which existed until 1964 when it was merged into

Attractions

Tourists visit Røldal for a number of reasons. The centuries-old

is a preserved museum, but it is also a regularly-used church for the village. The Røldal

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

center in the Hordadal valley is famous for receiving the most snowfall of any populated area in Norway. Røldal also is a point for access to the nearby

Hardangervidda Hardangervidda ( en, Hardanger Plateau) is a mountain plateau (Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Vestfold og Telemark, and Viken counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold ye ...

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

. Other places of interest include the Røldal Village Museum (showing a traditional local farm), some

iron-age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly a ...

burial mounds, and the Kalvatræet Literature House.

Name

The village is named after the old ''Røldal'' farm where the local church (

) is located. The farm was probably named after the valley in which it is located. The

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 ...

form of the name might have been ''Rœrgudalr''. The first element would then be the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...

of the local rivername ''Røyrga'' (derived from ''røyrr'' which means 'rocky ground') and the last element is ''dalr'' which means 'dale' or 'valley'.

References

External links

Røldal Ski center

Røldal Tourism

Røldal - Visit Norway tourism site

Røldal Stave Church

Photos
from the national library, pictures taken by Axel Lindahl and Anders Beer Wilse. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roldal Villages in Vestland Ullensvang