Tau is a village in Strand municipality in

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 ...

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 on the shore of the Horgefjorden, a branch of the main

Boknafjorden Boknafjord or Boknafjorden ( en, Bokna Fjord) is a fjord located in Rogaland county, Norway. The huge fjord lies between the cities of Stavanger and Haugesund and dominates the central part of the county. The main part of the fjord is shared bet ...

. Strand Church is located in the village. The village has a population (2019) of 3,212 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 . The village lies along the Norwegian National Road 13 highway, southwest of the small villages of Fiskå and

Holta Holta is a small farming village in the municipality of Strand in Rogaland county, Norway. The farm is situated on the northern hills overlooking the lake Bjørheimsvatn. It is approximately northeast of the village of Tau and about south of ...

and northwest of the town of Jørpeland. The

Ryfylke Tunnel The Ryfylke Tunnel ( no, Ryfylketunnelen) is an undersea road tunnel in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the Norwegian National Road 13 running between Stavanger and Ryfylke (district) under the Horgefjord (part of the Boknafjord). The t ...

connects Tau to the city of Stavanger nearly away on the other side of a wide fjord.

Name

The name might come from 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 ...

word ''taufr'' which means 'witchcraft', since there was an ancient sacrificial field here in the

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 appl ...

Economy

Comrod Communications is the largest employer in Tau, mainly manufacturing antennas for military use.

Electrocompaniet Electrocompaniet is a Norwegian manufacturer of high-end audio products. Their philosophy of the perfect sound has been controversial over their 40 years of history. They base their ideal sound not on technical measurements and theory but rather ...

is also based here. The factory ''Tau Mølle AS'' is located in Tau, producing puffed oats. The factory is located in a white mill that was used to brew the Norwegian beer known as "Tou".

References

Villages in Rogaland Strand, Norway {{Rogaland-geo-stub