Østerdalen () is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

and traditional district in

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). ...

county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large

Glåma The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the ...

river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. It includes the municipalities Rendalen, Alvdal, Folldal,

Tynset Tynset is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tynset. Other villages in Tynset include Fådalen, Fåset, Telnes ...

, Tolga and Os in the north, Elverum, Stor-Elvdal, Engerdal, Trysil and Åmot in the south. It historically included Särna and Idre, which is now in

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 countries, Nordic c ...

Geography

Østerdalen is quite wide in most places. Østerdalen is characterized by tranquil landscapes and rounded mountains. The lower valley is mostly covered by pine forests and more rolling hills. Typical of Østerdalen is that large parts of the forest floor are covered with reindeer moss, a variety of

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.

Glomma valley

The main valley that runs through Østerdalen is the Glommadal (or ''Glåmdalen''). The valley is formed by the river

(also called the Glomma), which is the longest and largest river in Norway. From Lake

Aursund Aursunden or Aursund is a lake in the municipality of Røros in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village of Brekken lies along the eastern shore and the village of Glåmos lies along the western shore. There are several inflows to the lake inclu ...

in the north and south to Elverum, the valley is called the Østerdalen. From that point south until

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aus ...

, it is referred to as

Solør Solør is a Norwegian traditional district consisting of the valley between Elverum in the north and Kongsvinger in the south. It is part of Innlandet county and it includes the municipalities Våler, Åsnes, and Grue. Glomma valley Glommada ...

. As it turns westerly from Kongsvinger until Nes, it is called the

Odalen Odal or Odalen is a valley and traditional district in Innlandet county, Norway. The district encompasses the area around the lake Storsjøen in the north and to the areas around the river Glåma in the south. The district is currently divided ...

valley. These designations are also traditional districts, reflecting the designations locals used for their valleys. The upper river valleys of Norwegian rivers have distinctive names which are vestiges of earlier cultural distinctions such as building styles, traditional clothing or bunad and domestic crafts.

Etymology

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

form of the name was or which directly translates to "the eastern valleys". The name was referring to the valleys of the rivers

Glomma The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the ...

, Rena, Trysilelva, and Österdalälven (the parishes Idre and Särna belonged to Norway until 1644). The modern form ends in ''-dalen'' which is the finite

singular Singular may refer to: * Singular, the grammatical number that denotes a unit quantity, as opposed to the plural and other forms * Singular homology * SINGULAR, an open source Computer Algebra System (CAS) * Singular or sounder, a group of boar ...

of the word ''dal'' which means "dale" or "valley".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterdalen Districts of Innlandet Valleys of Innlandet