Setesdal (; older name: Sætersdal) is a valley and a traditional district in Agder

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

in southern Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Bykle, Valle, Bygland, Iveland, and Evje og Hornnes. The Otra river flows through the valley of Setesdal into the sea near

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...

. It flows southward from the Hardangervidda plateau in Telemark. The historic Setesdal starts at Evje and extends as far as the farm Bjåen, at the edge of the traditional region of Telemark. Øvre (Upper) Setesdal is in the municipality of Bykle. The municipalities of Iveland, Evje & Hornes and Bygland comprise the Nedre (Lower) Setesdal. Valle municipality is in the middle of the Setesdal valley. Norwegian National Road 9 runs through Setesdal.

Etymology

The oldest Norse form of the name was just ''Setr'', and this was later replaced by ''Setrsdalr'' ('the dale/valley of Setr'). The common word ''setr'' has the meaning 'homestead, farm' – and ''Setr'' was probably originally the name of an old, large farm in the central part of Valle. The old farm was then later divided into a lot of smaller parts, but the name survived as the name of the district.

History

The '' Historia Norwegiæ'', a short history of Norway written by a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

in the second half of the 12th century, reports that Setesdal was then part of the law district "''Telemark with Råbyggelag''". A ''Raabygger'' or ''Råbygger'' is one who lives in a corner; this is an apt description for the valley of Setesdal, which runs like a wedge into the heights of the mountain called Haukelifjell. Ascending the Otra valley from

Evje Evje is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1877 until 1960. It was located in what is now the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Evje og Hornnes in the Setesdal valley of Agd ...

, one reaches the lake Byglandsfjord. At this point one historically found one of the more pronounced cultural transitions in Norway; there was a radical change in racial characteristics, dress (folk costumes or Bunad), architecture, dialect, folk music, dance (e.g., the ganger, a form of

Bygdedans Bygdedans (or village dance) is the regional, traditional dance of Norway. Bygdedans are the oldest and most distinctive among Norwegian folk dances.Byklestigen, the people of upper Setesdal were observed to be more closely related in blood and speech to their eastern neighbours in Telemark, as well as their immediate neighbours in adjoining districts of Rogaland to the west than to those people down the valley. Sigurd Fåvnesbane

Between Valle in Setesdal on the western side of the mountains and Fyresdal on the eastern side, one finds a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

trail that priests and bishops used to get between the counties of Agder and Telemark. This trail is named "The Bishop's Road"(''Bispevegen'') and every year a march called "The Bishop's Road March" (''Bispevegmarsjen'') starts at Kleivgrend in Fyresdal. The Hylestad stave church, constructed in the 13th century in Setesdal, was demolished in the 17th century. Its portal, with several carved scenes illustrating the legend of Sigurd Fåvnesbane (Sigurd the Dragon-slayer), is on display at the University Museum of National Antiquities in Oslo (''Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Historisk Museum, Oslo''). Sigurd's slaying of Fafnir is described in the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been ...

'' of Snorri Sturluson and the '' Völsungasaga'' as well as alluded to in '' Beowulf'' and ''

Njáls saga ''Njáls saga'' ( ), also ''Njála'' ( ), ''Brennu-Njáls saga'' ( ) or ''"The Story of Burnt Njáll"'', is a thirteenth-century Icelandic saga that describes events between 960 and 1020. The saga deals with a process of blood feuds in the ...

''. The

Setesdal Line , logo = , logo_width = , logo_alt = , image = , image_name = , image_width = , image_alt = , caption = Veteran train on the Setesdal Line, 23 July ...

( no, Setesdalsbanen) is a railroad between

and Byglandsfjord in southern

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

. It was opened to Hægeland in 1895, and to Byglandsfjord in 1896. This railroad was closed down in 1962 but parts of it exist today as a hobby railroad and it is in regular tourist use during the summer months. The

SS Bjoren SS ''Bjoren'' is a wood-fuelled steamboat that travels the route between Bygland-Byglandsfjord, Bygland and Bygland- Ose on the lake Byglandsfjorden in the municipality of Bygland in the Setesdal valley. She runs on Sundays in July. Using wood ...

is an old steamboat that is in regular tourist use on a lake in the river Otra called Byglandsfjord.

References

Other sources

* ''South Norway'' by Frank Noel Stagg, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1958. *

External links

Setesdal
www.visitnorway.com {{Authority control Districts of Agder Valleys of Agder

Etymology

History

See also

References

Other sources

External links