Norddal

Norddal is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It merged with Stordal municipality to establish the new Fjord municipality in 2020. It covered the easternmost part of the Sunnmøre region along the border with Oppland county. The municipal center of the municipality was the village of Sylte (also known as Valldal) in the Valldalen valley.

Norddal covered an area with several distinct valleys and villages: Eidsdal and Norddal (Dalsbygda) in the south; Tafjord in the east; and Fjørå/Selboskarbygda and Sylte in the Valldalen valley in the north. Norwegian County Road 63 traverses the municipality from south to north, going through several tunnels in the mountains including the Stordal Tunnel. The Heggur Tunnel connects the isolated village of Tafjord with the rest of the municipality.

At the time if its dissolution in 2020, the 944 km2 municipality is the 116th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Norddal is the 345th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,670. The municipality's population density is 1.9 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 5.2% over the last decade.

General information
The prestegjeld of Norddal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). Historically, the district of Sunnylven was part of the parish of Norddal, but on 1 January 1838 when Norddal municipality was established, Sunnylven was established as its own municipality, separate from Norddal. The municipal borders have not changed since that time.

On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Norddal (population: 1,670) and Stordal (population: 972) were merged into the new Fjord Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Dale farm (Dalr) since the first Dale Church was built there. Historically, the parish was known as simply as Dale. Around the year 1600, the first element,, was added. This prefix means "northern". The last element of the name is which means "valley" or "dale". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Norddalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Norddal, removing the definite form ending -en.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 16 February 1990 and they were in use until the municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020. The official blazon is "Or, a strawberry branch gules" (På gull grunn ein raud jordbærstengel). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is a red strawberry branch with a three-part leaf and three berries. This design was chosen because Norddal has a tradition for producing fruits such as apples, pears, and berries, notably strawberries. Wild strawberries can be found growing all over the municipality. The arms were designed by Astor Furseth. 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 Norddal. It was part of the Austre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

History
Valldal is mentioned in the historical books of Snorri Sturluson. While escaping the Danish army, Olav Haraldsson, later to become St. Olav, went ashore in Valldalen during the winter 1028/1029. Here, he supposedly came across a troublesome "sea serpent" which he tossed onto the mountainside and can today be seen as a lighter rock pattern above the town centre Sylte. On his journey up the valley towards Trollstigen, he received help from the farmers at Grønning to pass a rocky section called Skjærsura. For this help he deemed that the seed crop would never suffer from frost. Also, a natural spring in Valldal is named after St. Olav and is said to have a healing effect.

In 2008, a memorial stone was erected at the farm Døving, about 3 km up the valley from the sea, where the first church and cemetery is believed to have been located.

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 fell under the Sunnmøre District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

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

Mayors
The mayors of Norddal:


 * 1838-1844: Arne Iversen Grønningsæter
 * 1844-1847: Lars Larsen Myren
 * 1848-1879: Elias Arnesson Grønningsæter
 * 1880-1883: Elias O. Uri
 * 1884-1919: Nils E. Grønningsæter
 * 1920-1928: Gerhard Grønningsæter
 * 1929-1934: Nils J. Linge
 * 1935-1941: Gerhard Grønningsæter
 * 1941-1942: Elias Øien (NS)
 * 1942-1945: Ole K. Løvoll (NS)
 * 1945-1945: Gerhard Grønningsæter
 * 1946-1947: Elias Øien
 * 1948-1955: Karl Linge
 * 1956-1959: Nils P. Linge
 * 1960-1963: Elias Lingås
 * 1964-1967: Magnus Berdal
 * 1967-1967: Karl A. Døving
 * 1968-1971: Kåre Nerhagen
 * 1972-1973: Ragnar Lødøen
 * 1974-1975: Per Berge
 * 1976-1987: Karl A. Døving (Sp)
 * 1988-1993: Arne Sandnes (Sp)
 * 1994-1999: Gudmund Relling (V)
 * 1999-2007: Arne Sandnes (Sp)
 * 2007-2015: Bjørn Inge Ruset (Ap)
 * 2015-2019: Arne Sandnes (Sp)

Geography
The municipality was located around the Norddalsfjorden and the Tafjorden which flow west to east. They are the innermost branches off the main Storfjorden. Stranda Municipality lies to the west and south, Skjåk Municipality lies to the southeast, Rauma Municipality lies to the east and north, and Stordal Municipality lies to the northwest.

The main Valldalen valley runs to the northeast from the fjord. The valleys are surrounded by the Tafjordfjella mountain range. The mountains Puttegga, Karitinden, and Tordsnose sit on the eastern border of the municipality. The mountain Høgstolen lies in the northern part of the municipality. Reinheimen National Park is located partially in the municipality of Norddal.