Vågå

Infobox_Kommune
name=Vågå
idnumber=0515
county=Oppland
landscape=Gudbrandsdalen
capital=Vågåmo
governor=Rune Øygard (Ap)
governor_as_of=2003
arearank=68
area=1330
arealand=1253
areapercent=0.41
population_as_of=1.1.2007
populationrank=237
population=3,724
populationpercent=0.08
populationdensity=3
populationincrease=-3.2
language=Nynorsk
lat_deg=61| lat_min=50| lat_sec=55| lon_deg=9| lon_min=7| lon_sec=16
utm_zone=32V| utm_northing=6857338 |utm_easting=0506384| geo_cat=adm2nd




munwebpage=www.vaga.kommune.no

Vågå is a municipality in the county of Oppland, Norway.

The parish of "Vaage" was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Sel and Heidal were separated from Vågå as municipalities of their own January 1, 1908.

The name

Two origins have been suggested for the name Vågå:
*The name Vågå may come from the Old Norse language "vega", or travel. The area lies on an ancient east-west route mentioned in the Heimskringla.
*The Norse form of the name may come from "Vaga" (accusative and dative), from "*Vagi" nominative. It was probably originally the name of the lake Vågåvatn, but the meaning is unknown. (Maybe derived from "vage" f 'sleigh runner' - the shape of the lake has some similarity of form with a sleigh runner.)

Until 1918 the name was written "Vaage", in the period 1918-1920 "Vaagaa", from 1921 on "Vågå." The letter å is a long vowel similar to "oh" or "oa", like the American pronunciation of "cold" or "oar." Thus the name is pronounced similar to "Voh-goh."

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1985). It shows a reindeer in commemoration of the story of Peer Gynt (see Besseggen).

See also the coat-of-arms of Eidfjord, Porsanger, Rendalen, Tromsø and Vadsø.

Geography

Vågå is bordered on the north by the municipality of Lesja, in the east by Dovre and Sel, in the southeast by Nord-Fron, in the south by Vang and Øystre Slidre, and in the West by Lom.

The Vågå community lies in a mountainous region just to the north of Norway's Jotunheimen National Park, west of Rondane National Park and south of the Dovrefjell mountains. The highest peak is the Surtningsuen with a height of 2368 meters. Vågå includes a mountain road to the top of Jetta (1618 m) which provides an unobstructed view of both the Gudbrandsdal Valley and the surrounding national parks.

The river Otta begins in Skjåk municipality and flows into Vågåvatnet Lake. Exiting Vågåvatnet at Vågåmo, it continues its journey through the Ottadalen leaving Vågå municipality to meet the Gudbrandsdalslågen at Otta, Sel municipality.

The urban areas are Vågåmo and Lalm.

Physical Geography

Vågå lies in the rain shadow from the main mountain-chain (Jotunheimen) separating eastern from western Norway. The climate is hence charactherised by a continental climate regime. Warm summers and cold winters dominate, and the precipitation is very low,in years falling below 300 mm.

This dry continental climate makes Vågå the obvious place for the national hang-glider and para-glider centre of Norway.

Although being affected by the ice-sheet history spanning the Quaternary period of the last 2.5 million years, much of the landscape are moderately imprinted by ice-sheet erosion except from in the main valleys. Even these valleys including Sjodalen and Ottadalen are of pre-Quaternary origin, and were originally sculptured by fluvial rather than glacial erosion. The numerous lakes does remind us of the glacial history, although being much more limited than in the more dramatic [fiord] s of western Norway.

This limited glacial erosion also means that Vågå had limited glacier erosion during the last glacial period. Many findings of Mammoth pre-dating the last glacial maximum have been found, being evidence of the conservative nature of the LGM in the region.

History

Vågå is mentioned in the Heimskringla (The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) by Snorri Sturluson. The saga relates that after King Olaf stayed several nights in Lesja, he proceeded south across the uplands to the Ottadal, and the beautiful hamlet lying there on both sides of the Otta river. King Olaf remained there five days, summoning the residents of Vågå, Lom, and Heidal to a meeting (ting). They were advised they must either receive Christianity and give their sons as hostages, or see their habitations burnt. Many submitted to his demands.

Vågå stave church is the second oldest stave church in the country, which was constructed around 1150 and originally dedicated to St. Peter. It was converted to a cruciform church in 1625; the carved portal and wall planks are original. The baptismal font dates from the original church and a Gothic crucifix from the 13th century can be seen there as well.

In 1130 Ivar Gjesling was the earliest-known owner of Sandbu (just north of Vågåmo) in Vågå. He was also King Magnus IV's lendmann for the Opplands. Sigrid Undset's fictional Lady Ragnfrid, wife of Lavrans, was created a Gjesling from Sandbu.

Ivar Gjesling, allied himself with the Birchlegs (Birkebeinerne) — who chose Sverre as their king at Øreting in 1177. Sverre granted him the valley of Heidal as a reward.

Farmers from Vågå participated in the successful attack on Scottish mercenary troops journeying to join Swedish forces in 1612. The legends of the Battle of Kringen lives on to this day, including the story of how the peasant girl "Prillar-Guri" lured the Scots into an ambush by playing of the traditional ram's horn.

Ole Paulsen Haakenstad (1775–1866) was in 1814 summoned by Christian Frederick to plan the defense of Gudbrandsdalen in the event of a Swedish attack.

Over 150 houses in the municipality are designated as historic landmarks.

Famous residents

*Edvard Storm (1749–1794), poet
*Ragnvald Skrede (1904–1983), poet
*Arne Brimi (1957–), cook
*Ivar Kleiven (1854–1934), local historian

References

*"East Norway and its Frontier" by Frank Noel Stagg, George Allen and Unvin, Ltd., 1956.
*"Adventure Roads in Norway" by Erling Welle-Strand; Nortrabooks, 1996. ISBN 82-90103-71-9
*"Norway", edited by Doreen Taylor-Wilkie; Houghton Mifflin, 1996. ISBN 0-395-81912-1
*"Norway" by Graeme Cornwallis, Andrew Bender, & Deana Swaney; Lonely Planet Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-74059-200-X
*"Norway" by Gerhard Lemmer, Elke frey, & Helge Reye; Nelles Verlag GmbH., 2001. ISBN 3-88618-897-3

External links

* [http://www.kulturnett.no/geografisknavigering/geografisknavigering_visning.jsp?fylke=T946673&kommune=T926780 Map of Vågå municipality] in Kulturnett.no (Norwegian)