Åseral

Åseral is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kyrkjebygda. Other villages in Åseral include Eikerapen, Kylland, Ljosland, and Åknes.

Åseral is an inland municipality, bordering Bygland municipality to the north and east, Evje og Hornnes to the east, Lyngdal to the south, Hægebostad to the southwest, and Kvinesdal in the west. Åseral is the headwaters of the river Mandalselva and the Mandalen valley.

The 888 km2 municipality is the 131st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Åseral is the 338th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 911. The municipality's population density is 1.1 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 0.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
For centuries, the large parish of Bjelland encompassed the northern half of the Mandalen valley. The northern annex of the parish was Aaserald which was in the neighboring county of Nedenes while the main part of the parish was in Lister og Mandal county. When the formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect on 1 January 1838, each parish was created as a municipality, however, since Bjelland covered areas in two counties, it had to be split into two municipalities. The northern annex became the municipality of Aaserald (later spelled Åseral) in Nedenes county and the rest became the municipality of Bjelland og Grindum in Lister og Mandal county. On 1 September 1880, the municipality of Åseral was transferred from Nedenes county to Lister og Mandal county. Its municipal boundaries have never changed.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old name for the area (Ásaráll). The meaning of the name is somewhat uncertain. One theory is that the first element comes from the word which refers to "Æsir", the old pagan Norse gods and the last element is  (Old Norse) or  (Gothic) which means "gods' temple". Another theory is that the first element the genitive case of the word which means "hill" or "mountain ridge" and the last element is  which means "long strip" or "eel-shaped", which likely refers to the long, narrow lake Øre which is surrounded by mountains and hills. Historically, the name was spelled Aaserald or Aaseral. On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Aaseral with the digraph "Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Åseral, using the letter Å instead.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 20 January 1989. The official blazon is "Vert, a horseshoe argent" (På grøn grunn ein sølv hestesko). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a horseshoe. The horseshoe has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The green color in the field symbolizes the importance of forestry and the horseshoe was chosen to represent the historical importance of horses in the farming culture of Åseral as well as the symbol of good luck. The arms were designed by Ulf Dreyer. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Åseral. It is part of the Otredal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. Until 2019, it was part of the old Mandal prosti.

Government
Åseral 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 Agder District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Åseral 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.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Åseral (incomplete list):


 * 1857-1863: G.F.L. Shubeler
 * 1867-1869: Ola O. Forgard
 * 1869-1876: Ole O. Ljosland
 * 1877-1877: Jakob Berg
 * 1877-1884: Morten Kittelstad
 * 1884-1892: Ola O. Thorsland
 * 1892-1898: Morten Kittelstad
 * 1899-1911: Petter Ljosland
 * 1911-1929: Knut Egså
 * 1929-1935: Salve Taraldsen Østerhus
 * 1935-1941: Olav J. Åsland
 * 1946-1952: Olav J. Åsland
 * 1952-1957: Olav Byklüm
 * 1958-1963: Olav Øyulvstad
 * 1964-1971: Tom Kaddeberg
 * 1972-1975: Ånund Berg
 * 1976-1977: Sigmund Jortveit
 * 1977-1979: Jens M. Forgard
 * 1980-1991: Kristen Kylland (Sp)
 * 1992-2007: Jørgen Åsland (Sp)
 * 2007-2019: Oddmund Ljosland (Sp)
 * 2019-present: Inger Lise Lund Stulien (Ap)

Geography
Åseral is in the central, inland part of Southern Norway. It is in the Setesdalsheiene mountains and adjacent to the Setesdal valley to the northeast. Åseral has many lakes, some of which are dammed for purposes of hydroelectric power. Some of the lakes include Nåvatnet, Juvatn, Øre and Gyvatn. The river Mandalselva and the Mandalen valley both begin in Åseral.

Attractions
Åseral is a popular winter tourist destination with three ski resorts in the villages of Bortelid, Ljosland, and Eikerapen. Eikerapen is also the site of the annual Eikerapen Roots Festival, an international music festival attracting thousands of people from all over Europe.

Notable people

 * Lars Knutson Liestøl (1839–1912), a politician who was Mayor of Bygland for 12 years
 * Knut Liestøl (1881 in Åseral – 1952), a folklorist, Nynorsk proponent, and politician