Sel is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the municipality is the town of Otta. The municipality also includes several notable villages including

Bjølstad Bjølstad or Heidal is a village in Sel Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the Heidal valley, about northeast of the village of Skogbygda and about southwest of the town of Otta. The village has a population ...

Dale Dale or dales may refer to: Locations * Dale (landform), an open valley * Dale (place name element) Geography ;Australia * The Dales (Christmas Island), in the Indian Ocean ;Canada * Dale, Ontario ;Ethiopia *Dale (woreda), district ;Norway *D ...

Høvringen Høvringen is a village in Sel Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the northern part of the municipality, high up in the mountains along the Gudbrandsdalen valley. The village area sits at an elevation of about a ...

Nord-Sel Sel or Nord-Sel is a village in Sel Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the northern part of the municipality on the south shore of the Gudbrandsdalslågen river, about northwest of the town of Otta, Norway, Otta. ...

Sandbumoen Sandbumoen iis a village in Sel Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located along the Gudbrandsdalslågen river, about south of the town of Otta and about the same distance north of the village of Sjoa. The European route ...

, Sjoa, and Skogbygda. The municipality is the 130th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Sel is the 172nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,531. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 7.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The new municipality of Sel was established on 1 January 1908 when

Vågå Municipality Vågå () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågåmo. Other village areas in Vågå include Lalm and Bessh ...

was divided into three. The northeastern part became the new Sel Municipality (population: 2,287), the southeastern part became the new Heidal Municipality (population: 1,241) and the western part continued as

(population: 2,953). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the municipality of Heidal (population: 1,731) was dissolved and it was merged with the neighboring municipality of Sel (population: 3,687) along with the Tolstadåsen area of

(population: 35) and the Sjoa area of

Nord-Fron Municipality Nord-Fron is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vinstra. Other population centers in Nord-Fron include the villages ...

(population: 413) to form a new, larger Sel Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Sel'' farm ( non, Sil), since the first Sel Church was built there. This farm is located in the present-day village of

. The name is identical with the word ''sil'' which means "slowly running and quiet part of a river" (here meaning the Gudbrandsdalslågen river).

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 18 May 1985. The arms show a gold-colored girl playing a trumpet on a blue background. The image is based on the local

Prillar-Guri Prillar-Guri or Prillarguri is a semi legendary figure who according to oral tradition was a woman from Sel, Norway who played a key role in the Battle of Kringen (''Slaget ved Kringen'') in August 1612. Background Sweden and Denmark-Norway ...

legend. In 1612, a Scottish army marched through the area on its way to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. They were stopped by the local farmers at the

Battle of Kringen Battle of Kringen ( no, Slaget ved Kringen) involved an ambush by Norwegian peasant militia of Scottish mercenary soldiers who were on their way to enlist in the Swedish army for the Kalmar War. The battle has since become a part of folklore ...

. The legend tells that the farmers were warned for the Scots by a local girl with a trumpet.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

has three parishes () within the municipality of Sel. It is part of the Nord-Gudbrandsdal prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Hamar The Diocese of Hamar ( no, Hamar Bispedømme) is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner in Viken county. Administratively, the diocese is divided ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Sel, are responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...

, senior citizen services, unemployment and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elects a mayor. The municipality falls under the

Vestre Innlandet District Court Vestre Innlandet District Court ( no, Vestre Innlandet tingrett) is a district court (Norway), district court located in Innlandet county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Gjøvik (town), Gjøvik, Fag ...

and the

Eidsivating Court of Appeal The Eidsivating Court of Appeal ( no, Eidsivating lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Hamar. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Innlandet and eastern Viken. These ...

Municipal council

The municipal council of Sel is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayors

The mayors of Sel (incomplete list):

Geography

Sel is bordered on the north by Dovre and Vågå municipalities, and on the south by

Nord-Fron Nord-Fron is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vinstra. Other population centers in Nord-Fron include the villages ...

municipality. To the northeast it is bordered by Folldal municipality. Large parts of the very first national park in Norway, Rondane National Park is situated in the municipality of Sel and has its main entrances from the mountain villages of

and Mysuseter. The Jutulhogget canyon is located in the park. Although it has a small population, Sel is one of the more scenic and historically significant areas of the Gudbrandsdalen valley. A large concentration of Norway's heritage-listed farms are located in the Heidal valley in Sel municipality (Heidal became part of Sel municipality in 1965). The town of Otta, named after the

Otta River Otta is a river in Innlandet county, Norway. The river flows through the Ottadalen valley which includes the municipalities of Skjåk, Lom, Vågå, and Sel. The watershed of the Otta drains an area of beginning in the Breheimen mountains and e ...

, is the main population center in the municipality. Otta lies at the point where the Otta River joins the Gudbrandsdalslågen river from the west. The Otta River leads up to the historically important Vågå and Lom regions and the passes to the west into the Jotunheimen mountain range.

Attractions

*Jørundgard Medieval Center - This reconstructed 14th century medieval farm, the location of Sigrid Undset's novel " Kristin Lavransdatter", was the site of a 1994 filming of ''Kransen''. The buildings were furnished in medieval style for the film. It is open to the public and traditional crafts are demonstrated by staff, providing a uniquely medieval look at Norwegian history. *Pilgrim's Route/Old Kings Road - The Pilgrim's Route and Old King's Road passes through Sel on its way through the Gudbrand Valley and northwards over Dovrefjell mountains near present-day Dombås in the Dovre municipality. *Selsverket - Sel municipality has a long tradition in mining and quarrying for minerals, soapstone, and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

. Selsverket was the copper works from the 18th century which was located approximately 2 kilometers north of Otta. There were also copper works in neighboring Folldal. * Sel Church - The church at Selsverket was built in 1742. It is constructed of logs. *Steinberget Fortress - Built in the pre-Christian period, the Steinberget fortress is now a jumble of rock along

European route E6 European route E6 ( no, Europavei 6, sv, Europaväg 6, or simply E6) is the main north-south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and t ...

. *Kringen - In 1612, a peasant militia ambushed Scots marching to support Sweden at Kringen (the narrowest part of the Gudbrand Valley, just below the confluence of the Otta and the Gudbrandsdalslågen). As the Scots reached the ambush site of Prillarguri hill, legend has it that

, riding on the other side of the lågen, distracted the Scots until they were in the right position. She then sounded a blast with her prillarhorn (a ram's horn), and the

began. A monument can be found there today, and she's also found on Sel's coat-of-arms today. *Hilltop Fortress - West of Prillarguri hill is another hilltop fortress, protected by a sheer drop on three sides and walls on the fourth side, which was built in the period from 300 to 600 AD. *Ula Dam - In 1877-1879 the Norwegian parliament ordered construction of the Ula Dam to stop gravel and rock transported by the Ula River from blocking the Gudbrandsdalslågen and flooding the fertile valley floor. The debris washed down by the Ula in 1789 destroyed the houses at Selsverket and rerouted the Gudbrandsdalslågen, such that the farms along the Sel became marshes.

In literature and legend

* Sel is where Kristin Lavransdatter, a fictitious Norwegian woman living in the 14th century, grows up. ''Kristin Lavransdatter'' is a trilogy of historical novels written by the 1928

Nobel Nobel often refers to: *Nobel Prize, awarded annually since 1901, from the bequest of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel Nobel may also refer to: Companies *AkzoNobel, the result of the merger between Akzo and Nobel Industries in 1994 *Branobel, or ...

laureate Sigrid Undset. *

or Prillarguri is a semi legendary figure who, according to oral tradition, was a woman from Sel, Norway who played a key role in the

in August 1612

Notable people

Paul Thorsen Harildstad Paul Thorsen Harildstad (23 December 1764 – 15 January 1843) was a Norwegian farmer who served as a representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. Biography Paul Thorsen (''Pål Torsson'') was born on the farm ...

(1764 in Heidal – 1843) a farmer, rep. at the

Norwegian Constitutional Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

at Eidsvoll *

Olav Kringen Olav Kringen (24 July 1867 – 6 October 1951) was a Norwegian newspaper editor. He was born at a croft in Sel, and was a manual laborer in Norway before emigrating to the United States in 1887. There, he studied and took a teacher education. He ...

(1867 in Sel – 1951) a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician; 1887–1897 in USA *

Erling Steineide Erling Øistein Steineide (10 August 1938 – 9 October 2019) was a Norwegian cross-country skier, born in Heidal. He participated at the 1964 Winter Olympics, where he placed fourth in the 4 × 10 km relay event, together with teammates Magnar ...

(1938 in Heidal – 2019) a cross-country skier, participated at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

Hans Ola Sørlie Hans Ola Sørlie (30 December 1953 – 29 May 1988) was a Norwegian actor. Sørlie grew up in Otta and moved to Oslo to study medicine at the University of Oslo. He was discovered as an acting talent and succeeded at joining the Norwegian Nationa ...

(1953 in Otta – 1988) a Norwegian actor IMDb Database
retrieved 20 November 2020 *

Even Aleksander Hagen Even Aleksander Hagen (born 14 April 1988) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. Following the 2015 election, Hagen became the Chairman of the County Council (''fylkesordfører'') of Innlandet. He is also the youngest County Mayor in ...

(born 1988 in Otta) a Norwegian politician, County Mayor of Oppland

Gallery

File:OttariverII.jpg, Otta River File:Gudbrandsdalen Valley, Oppland, Norway (6052233487).jpg, Gudbrandsdalen Valley File:Rondane - panoramio (2).jpg, Rondane File:A carved troll woman in the Gudbrandsdalen Valley.jpg, A carved troll woman in the Gudbrandsdalen Valley

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 ...

* * {{use dmy dates, date=June 2022 Municipalities of Innlandet Populated places on the Gudbrandsdalslågen 1908 establishments in Norway