Gildeskål

Gildeskål is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Bodø Region and the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Inndyr. Other villages include Forstranda, Lekanger, Mevik, Mårnes, Nygårdsjøen, Saura, Storvika, Sør-Arnøy, Sørfinnset, and Våg.

The 665 km2 municipality is the 170th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Gildeskål is the 285th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,928. The municipality's population density is 3.1 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 3.9% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Gildeskaal (later spelled Gildeskål) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1853, the eastern (inland) district of Gildeskaal (population: about 1,150) was separated to become the new municipality of Beiarn. This left Gildeskaal with about 2,400 residents. The municipal boundaries have not changed since.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Gildeskaal farm (Gildaskáli) since the first Gildeskål Church was built there. The first element is the plural genitive case of which means "feast" or "banquet". The last element is which means "hall". On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Gildeskaal with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Gildeskål, using the letter å instead.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 12 February 1988. The official blazon is "Azure, a chalice argent" (I blått en sølv kalk). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a chalice. The chalice 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 arms are canting since the meaning of the municipal name Gildeskål refers to a banquet hall (or guildhall) which, of course, is a place where one might drink from a chalice. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.

Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Gildeskål. It is part of the Bodø domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Geography
Gildeskål is a coastal municipality that encompasses part of the mainland as well as many islands. Major islands include Fleina, Fugløya, Nordarnøya, Sørarnøya, and Sandhornøya. The southern part of the municipality includes part of the Saltfjellet mountains and the northern part of the municipality borders the Saltfjorden and the Vestfjorden.

There are many lakes in the municipality including: Fellvatnet, Langvatnet, Litle Sokumvatnet, and Sokumvatnet.

Government
All municipalities in Norway are 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 Salten og Lofoten District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Gildeskål 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 of Gildeskål:


 * 1838–1847: Stein Eilert Berner
 * 1848–1849: Ole Helgesen
 * 1850–1851: Peder H. Berg
 * 1852–1860: Edvard Pedersen
 * 1860–1862: Hans Henrik Holck Daae
 * 1863–1866: Jørgen Blix
 * 1867–1868: Hans Henrik Holck Daae
 * 1869–1870: Hans Olsen
 * 1871–1872: Eilert Nicolai Friis
 * 1873–1876: Hans Hansen
 * 1877–1878: Abel Ellingsen
 * 1879–1882: Hans Hansen
 * 1883–1884: Christoffer Arntzen
 * 1885–1888: Hans Hansen
 * 1889–1894: Håkon Hansen
 * 1895–1910: O. Laugsand
 * 1911–1913: Paulius Danielsen
 * 1914–1919: Jens Johansen
 * 1920–1922: Daniel Johan Eilertsen
 * 1923–1925: Johan Nilsen-Nygaard
 * 1926-1926: Daniel Johan Eilertsen
 * 1927–1928: Øyvind Heen
 * 1929–1940: Peder Johnsen
 * 1941-1941: Øyvind Heen
 * 1941–1945: Lars Norum
 * 1945-1945: Peder Johnsen
 * 1946–1947: Astrup Johansen
 * 1948–1958: Reidar Juliussen Myrhaug
 * 1958–1961: Magnus Sundsfjord
 * 1962–1963: Øivind Kaspersen
 * 1964–1969: Meyer Madsen
 * 1970–1971: Rolf Fagermo
 * 1972-1972: Meyer Madsen
 * 1972–1975: Andreas Opsahl
 * 1976–1979: Håkon Willumsen
 * 1980–1981: Harald Joakimsen
 * 1982–1983: Svein Christensen
 * 1984–1995: Roger Granberg (Ap)
 * 1995–1999: Jon Gisle Karlsen
 * 1999-2003: Gunnar T. Skjellvik (Ap)
 * 2003-2011: Walter Pedersen (H)
 * 2011-2019: Petter Jørgen Pedersen (Ap)
 * 2019–present: Bjørn Magne Pedersen (H)

Buildings and structures
Sandhornøy Bridge connects the island of Sandhornøya to the mainland. The Kjellingstraumen Bridge crosses the outer end of the Beiar Fjord.

There is a VLF-transmitter in Gildeskål that is used for sending messages to submerged submarines (call sign: JXN, frequency: 16.4 kHz). It uses as antenna multiple wires spun between two mountains (photo). The transmitter building is located at 66.98278°N, 13.87306°W.

Notable people

 * Elias Blix (1836–1902) a Norwegian professor, theologian, hymn writer and politician
 * Harald Sund (1876–1940) a Norwegian architect, artist and illustrator
 * Håvard Lund (born 1970) a Norwegian jazz musician (clarinet and saxophone) and composer