Hornindal

Hornindal is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It existed from 1867 until 1965 and then again from 1977 until 2020. It was located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Grodås. The municipality was located at the eastern end of the lake Hornindalsvatnet, the deepest lake in Northern Europe. The rest of the lake lies inside neighboring Eid Municipality.

The European route E39 highway runs through Hornindal Municipality as it makes its route along the western coast of Norway. The Kviven Tunnel was completed in 2012 as part of the new E39 route connecting Hornindal to Volda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county to the north. The tunnel was constructed to avoid the ferry crossing over the Voldsfjorden and it shortened the distance from Hornindal to Volda significantly.

At the time of its dissolution in 2020, the 192 km2 municipality is the 334th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Hornindal is the 381st most-populous municipality in Norway, with a population of 1,175. The municipality's population density is 6.6 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 3% over the last decade.

General information
Since ancient times, Hornindal was a sub-parish (sokn) of Eid prestegjeld (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1865, Hornindal became a parish of its own and then two years later, on 1 January 1867, Hornindal was established as a separate municipality. At this time, Hornindal had a population of 1,612.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the municipality of Hornindal was dissolved and it was divided between the neighboring municipalities of Eid and Stryn. Navelsaker and Holmøyvik and all of Hornindal west of there (population: 310) was transferred to Eid, and the 1,184 residents to the east of those areas went to Stryn. This, however, was not long-lasting. On 1 January 1977, the area of the old municipality of Hornindal was separated from Stryn and recreated as a separate municipality once again. The portions of Hornindal that were moved to Eid in 1964 remained there. The new Hornindal municipality had a population of 1,202.

On 1 January 2019, the Maurset area in southern Hornindal (population: 19) was transferred from Hornindal to the neighboring municipality of Stryn.

On 1 January 2020, Hornindal (in Sogn og Fjordane county) merged with the neighboring Volda Municipality and joined Møre og Romsdal county.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local Hornindalen valley since that is the location of the municipality. The first element of the name comes from the old Horne farm (Hornyn) since the first Hornindal Church was built there. The name is likely a combination of two old words. The first part is which means "horn", likely referring to the shape of a mountain behind the farm. The last part is which means "meadow" or "pasture". The last element of the name is which means "valley" or "dale". Thus, the name means the "valley of Horne". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Hornindalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Hornindal, removing the definite form ending -en.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 7 August 1987 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Azure, three scythe blades fesswise in pale argent" (På blå grunn tre sølv ljåblad, 1-1-1). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a set of three horizontal scythe blades stacked one over the other. Each scythe blade has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. Historically, farming and blacksmithing were vital industries in Hornindal. At one point, there were as many as 200 blacksmiths in the area. There was also a rich tradition of making handmade scythes and this was honored by its placement on the coat of arms. The arms were designed by Petter Eide. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Hornindal. It is part of the Nordfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Sogn og Fjordane District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hornindal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four-year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors
The mayors (ordførar) of Hornindal:


 * 1867–1885: Knut Kirkhorn
 * 1885-1887: Rasmus Rognnes
 * 1888-1902: Amund Tomasgard
 * 1902-1913: Ola R. Svor
 * 1914-1916: Anton Johnson
 * 1917-1919: Ola R. Svor
 * 1920-1922: Lars N. Gausemel
 * 1923-1925: Paul K. Kirkhorn
 * 1926-1928: Lars N. Gausemel
 * 1929-1940: Jakob Gausemel
 * 1940-1942: Ivar Melheim
 * 1942-1945: Oliver Fagerheim (NS)
 * 1945-1955: Ivar Melheim
 * 1956-1964: Kåre Maurset
 * (1965-1976: Merged with Stryn Municipality)
 * 1977-1977: Kåre Maurset (LL)
 * 1978-1981: Paul O. Tomasgard (Sp)
 * 1982-1983: Rasmus Otterdal (H)
 * 1984-1987: Atle Tomasgard (V)
 * 1988-1991: Jon Indredavik (Ap)
 * 1993-1999: Ola Are Ytrehorn (Sp)
 * 1999-2009: Bjørn Lødemel (H)
 * 2009-2011: Edvin Haugen (H)
 * 2011-2015: Anne-Britt Øen Nygård (Sp)
 * 2015-2019: Stig Olav Lødemel (H)

Location
Hornindal is located on the northern border of Sogn og Fjordane county. Hornindal is bordered to the west by the municipality of Eid, to the south by Stryn, to the east by Stranda (in Møre og Romsdal county), and to the north by Ørsta and Volda (both in Møre og Romsdal county).

Mountains

 * Hornindalsrokken mountain (1495 m)
 * Gulkoppen mountain (1304 m)
 * Middagsfjellet (903 m)

Hornindalsvatnet
The Hornindalsvatnet lake is the deepest lake in Europe at 514 m deep. None of the glacier streams run out into the lake and this has resulted in one of Europe's clearest lakes.

Anders Svor Museum
Anders Svor was born in 1864 on the Svor Farm in Hornindal. At the age of 21 he left for Denmark where he enrolled at the Copenhagen Academy of Art. He later participated in many art exhibitions in Kristiania, Copenhagen, Paris, and Chicago. The Anders Svor Museum was opened in 1953 and features 450 of his works. His art is characterised by simple, clean lines, and deep authenticity.

Notable people

 * Anders Fannemel (born 1991), a ski jumper
 * Frode Grodås (born 1964), a footballer
 * Bjørn Lødemel (born 1958), a politician
 * Brita Lund (1886–1966), an artist
 * Anders Svor (1864–1929), a sculptor