Fyresdal

Fyresdal is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moland. Other villages in Fyresdal include Kilegrend, Øvre Birtedalen, and Øyane.
The 1,280-square-kilometre (490 sq mi) municipality is the 78th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Fyresdal is the 317th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,224. The municipality's population density is 1.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (2.8/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 9.3% over the previous 10-year period.
The parish of Moland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1879, the name of the municipality was changed to Fyresdal. The borders of the municipality have never changed, something which is pretty unusual in Norway.
The municipality (originally the parish) was first named after the old Moland farm (Old Norse: Mólanda) since the first Moland Church was built there. The first element is mór which means "moorland" or "heath". The last element is land which means "land" or "district".
On 28 June 1879, a royal resolution changed the name of the municipality to Fyresdal. This name (Old Norse: Fyrisdalr) was chosen since it is the name of the valley in which the municipality is located. The first element of this name is the genitive case of the name of the local lake Fyresvatnet (Old Norse: Fyrir). The name of the lake is derived from the word fura which means "pine tree". The last element of the name is dalr which means "valley" or "dale".
The coat of arms was granted on 24 April 1992. The official blazon is "Vert two bendwise axes argent in pale" (Norwegian: På grøn grunn to skråstilte sølv øksar). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a broadaxe. The broadaxes have a tincture of argent which means it is colored white most of the time, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The green color in the field and the broadaxe were chosen to symbolize the importance of forestry in the municipality. The arms were the result of a local competition, which resulted in 42 different proposals being submitted. The winning design for the arms was submitted by Halvor Holtskog Jr. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Fyresdal. It is part of the Øvre Telemark prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.
Fyresdal is known for its many findings from the Viking Age, its mighty Viking graves, heaps of slag, and the former Heggland pilgrim church that once stood proudly north of the village centre. People traveled to this church from all over Norway and even from Europe. It was said that the stream running behind the church had healing powers.
A few miles south of the site where the Heggland Pilgrim Church (Norwegian: Heggland Kyrkje), once stood at Molandsmoen, a stone with Runic inscriptions can be found. This is a reminder from the Viking Age when horse battles were held there. Originally, one believes, there were four of them. Klokkarhamaren is a little mountain on a peninsula in the municipal centre, and it is the location of a cave called Munkhola. It is believed that a certain number of monks in medieval times resided, held masses, and sought refuge here.
Fyresdal Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Telemark District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Fyresdal is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four-year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Fyresdal (incomplete list):
Most people in the municipality work in the fields of agriculture, forestry, trade, industry, and tourism. There are not many full-time farmers left in Fyresdal, but many people derive a secondary income from agriculture and forestry.
The largest employer in the municipality is Telemark Kildevann which makes bottled water and soft drinks for the national and Swedish markets. There are also a few small high-competence mechanical factories which produce parts for the offshore industry.
The Vest-Telemark airport, Fyresdal is located in Moland, with a nearby hotel. This is a joint operation under the name Airparc Fyresdal. Fyresdal has bus connections with the town centres of Skien and Porsgrunn in Telemark county; Arendal in Agder county; Bergen in Vestland county; Haugesund in Rogaland county; and to the capital, Oslo. A bus also travels every school day of the year between Fyresdal and Dalen, the municipal centre of the neighboring Tokke Municipality.
The municipality of Fyresdal consists of several little villages north of Moland, in the main valley of Fyresdal, and on the western and southeastern shores of Fyresvatnet, one of Norway's deepest lakes. Moland is the location of the municipal council, the school, the community house, kindergartens, the home for the elderly, and most of the commercial enterprises in the municipality. Moland is the most heavily populated aea of Fyresdal.
Fyresdal is among the westernmost municipalities in Telemark. It borders the municipalities of Tokke, Kviteseid, and Nissedal in Telemark county. It also shares borders with the municipalities of Åmli, Bygland, and Valle in Agder county.