Åsnes og Våler or Aasnes og Vaaler is a former municipality in the old

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The municipality existed from 1849 until its dissolution in 1854. The area is now divided between

Åsnes Municipality Åsnes is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Solør. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Flisa, w ...

and Våler Municipality in the traditional district of

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 Våler Municipality, Åsnes Municipality, and Grue Municipality. G ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

was the village of

Flisa Flisa is the administrative centre of Åsnes Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village lies at the confluence of the rivers Flisa and Glomma. The Norwegian National Road 2 and the Solørbanen railway line both pass through the vill ...

, where

Åsnes Church Åsnes Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Åsnes Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Flisa. It is the church for the Åsnes parish which is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti (dean ...

is located.

General information

The municipality of Aasnes og Vaaler was established in 1849 when the large Hof Municipality was divided into two parts (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). Initially, Aasnes og Vaaler had a population of 7,087. In 1854, the municipality was divided to create two new municipalities: Aasnes Municipality (population: 3,677) in the south and Vaaler Municipality (population: 3,410) in the north. Both municipalities still exist, but the spelling of the names are slightly different (Åsnes and Våler).

Name

The municipal name was created in 1849 (and in use until 1854) when the old Hof Municipality was divided. The new name was a combination of two areas that made up the new municipality. The word , meaning "and", was in between the two names. The name of the municipality was always spelled during its existence, but on 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms (long after this municipality was dissolved). This reform changed the spelling in the Norwegian language so that the

digraph Digraph, often misspelled as diagraph, may refer to: * Digraph (orthography), a pair of characters used together to represent a single sound, such as "nq" in Hmong RPA * Ligature (writing), the joining of two letters as a single glyph, such as " ...

" aa" was no longer used and instead, the letter å was used. This is why the name is now usually seen written using the modern spelling: , but this was never used during the existence of the municipality. The first name comes from the old ''Aasnes'' farm () since the first

was built there. The first element is which means "

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

". The last element is which means "

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

". The headland that it is referring to is made by the river

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 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the river r ...

near the Åsnes farm which is located beneath a hill. The second name comes from the old ''Vaaler'' farm () since the first

Våler Church Våler Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Våler Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Våler. It is the church for the Våler parish which is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti (d ...

was built there. The first element is the

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

form of which means " clearing in the woods".

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

had two parishes () within Aasnes og Vaaler Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Aasnes

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

and the

Sør-Østerdal prosti The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Innlandet county plus the parishes in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. The diocese is based at th ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Hamar The Diocese of Hamar () 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 Municipality in Akershus county. Administratively, the diocese is divided into 1 ...

Geography

The municipality was located in the

district.

Elverum Municipality Elverum () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Elverum ( ...

was to the north, the

Älvdal Hundred A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in northern Germanic countries and related colonies, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions. The equivalent term in Swedish is (in Uppland also ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

was to the east, Hof Municipality was to the south,

Romedal Municipality Romedal is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Stange Municipality in the traditional district of Hedmarken. The administrative cent ...

was to the west, and

Løten Municipality Løten is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Løten. Other villages in the municipality include Ådalsbruk, Heim ...

was to the northwest. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Kjølberget, located near the border with

Trysil Municipality Trysil is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Inn ...

and

Government

While it existed, Aasnes og Vaaler Municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives (). The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

() was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council.

References