Fåvang is a village in

Ringebu Municipality 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 Vålebru (the village is also known as ''Ringebu''). The municipality ...

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). The ...

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 is located in the

Gudbrandsdal Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer (town), Lille ...

valley, along the

Gudbrandsdalslågen The Gudbrandsdalslågen (or simply ''Lågen'') is a river which flows through the Gudbrandsdal valley in Innlandet county, Norway. The long river runs through a large valley in Eastern Norway before emptying into Mjøsa, the largest lake in Norw ...

river, about north of the town of

Lillehammer Lillehammer () 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 Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

. The

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 ...

highway runs through the village, right along the river. The village has a population (2021) of 720 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 .

History

Fåvang Stave Church Fåvang Stave Church ( no, Fåvang stavkyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ringebu Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located just south of the village of Fåvang. It is the main church for the Fåvang parish which i ...

(''Fåvang kirke'') was built after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, for the most part of using materials from earlier stave churches in the valley which had been demolished. The church was probably built between 1627 and 1630. The oldest parts can be dated back to around 1150–1250. Particularly heavy fighting took place in Fåvang, as well as neighboring

Tretten Tretten is a village in Øyer Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located on the Losna lake, which is part of the Gudbrandsdalslågen river. Tretten is located in the Gudbrandsdal valley, along the Gudbrandsdalslågen river ...

Vinstra Vinstra is a town in Nord-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of the municipality. The town is located in the Gudbrandsdalen valley, at the confluence of the Gudbrandsdalslågen river and the Vins ...

Kvam Kvam is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located along the Hardangerfjorden in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Norheimsund. Other larger settle ...

Sjoa The Sjoa is a river in Innlandet county, Norway. The long river runs through the municipalities of Vågå and Sel and it provides the outlet from lake Gjende at Gjendesheim in the Jotunheimen mountains of Norway's Jotunheim National Park. The r ...

and Otta during the Norwegian Campaign which led up to the

occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

. The Norwegian movie ''

Jonny Vang ''Jonny Vang'' is a Norwegian film from 2003. It was directed by Jens Lien after a script by Ståle Stein Berg. The music was composed by the band Calexico. The plot is a drama-comedy from the Norwegian countryside, where the protagonist Jonny Va ...

'' was principally filmed in the town of Fåvang during 2003. Fåvang is located about away from

Kvitfjell Kvitfjell ( no, White mountain) is a ski resort in Norway, located in the municipality of Ringebu. Developed for the Alpine skiing at the 1994 Winter Olympics, 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, it is one of the most modern resorts in the world ...

, the downhill

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

arena used in the Lillehammer Winter Olympics held in 1994.

Name

The village (and church parish) is named after the old ''Fåvang'' farm ( non, Fǫðvangr) since the first Fåvang Church was built there. The first element is the river name ''Få'' (see also

Fådalen Fådalen (or historically spelled Faadalen) is a valley and village area in Tynset Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of wh ...

and the old name of

Lysakerelva Lysakerelven (also known as Lysakerelva, en, Lysaker River) is a river in Norway that forms the boundary between the municipalities of the capital city of Oslo and Bærum. The river by this name has its source in Bogstadvannet, though the source ...

) and the last element is ''vangr'' which means 'meadow'.

Notable residents

Finn Kalvik Finn Bjørn Kalvik (born 30 April 1947) is a Norwegian singer and composer. Early career He was born in Fåvang, but his family moved to the working class district of Grorud, Oslo in 1952. Early in his career Kalvik found success putting music t ...

, artist

References

Ringebu Villages in Innlandet Populated places on the Gudbrandsdalslågen {{Innlandet-geo-stub