Rendalen

Rendalen is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bergset. Other villages in the municipality include Hanestad, Otnes, Sjølisand, Unset, Åkre, and Åkrestrømmen.

The 3180 km2 municipality is the 13th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Rendalen is the 295th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,769. The municipality's population density is 0.6 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 7.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Rendalen was established on 1 January 1965 when the old Ytre Rendal Municipality (population: 1,913) and Øvre Rendal Municipality (population: 1,629) were merged. On 1 January 1984, the unpopulated Spekedalen valley was transferred from Tynset Municipality to Rendalen.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Rendalen valley (Reindalr) which is located in the municipality. The first element is which means "reindeer". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale". The river Rena runs through the valley and it is not known if the valley was named after the river or if the river was named after the valley. A nearby mountain Renafjellet also has a similar name.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 2 June 1989. The official blazon is "Azure, two reindeer heads argent in pale" (I blått to sølv reinsdyrhoder, 1-1). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is two reindeer heads. The charge 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 design symbolizes the importance of reindeer farming in the community. The arms are a canting since the name Rendalen is derived from the word for reindeer. There are two heads to represent Øvre Rendal Municipality and Ytre Rendal Municipality which were merged in 1965 to form this municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Rendalen. It is part of the Nord-Østerdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Geography
The municipality has an area of 3180 km² which makes it the 2nd largest municipality (after Ullensvang Municipality) in Southern Norway. The 11 largest municipalities are all in rural Northern Norway and they are followed by Ullensvang and Rendalen. Rendalen municipality is bordered on the northwest by Alvdal Municipality and Tynset Municipality, in the north by Tolga Municipality, in the east by Engerdal Municipality, in the south by Trysil Municipality and Åmot Municipality, and in the west by Stor-Elvdal Municipality.

Rendalen municipality encompasses most of the Rendalen valley, a side valley of the large Østerdalen valley which dominates Eastern Norway. In addition, the municipality encompasses the northern part of the lake Storsjøen as well as the lakes Sølensjøen, Galtsjøen, Harrsjøen, and Lomnessjøen. The mountains Elgspiggen and Sølen are in Rendalen as well. The rivers Glomma and Renaelva both flow through the municipality.

Government
Rendalen 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 Østre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

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


 * 1965–1967: Erik Husfloen (Ap)
 * 1968–1977: Kjell Borgen (Ap)
 * 1978–1979: Otto Tobro (Ap)
 * 1980–1991: Steinar Berget (Ap)
 * 1992–1995: Sindre Undseth (Ap)
 * 1995–2007: Erling Myhre (Sp)
 * 2007–2019: Norvald Illevold (Ap)
 * 2019–present: Linda Døsen (Ap)

Economy
The primary occupations are in farming and logging, but tourism is also important. The Renåfjellet mountain area provides for excellent alpine hiking.

Notable people

 * Johan Reinhardt (1778 in Rendalen – 1845), a professor of zoology at Copenhagen University
 * Gustav Storm (1845 in Rendalen – 1903), a Norwegian historian and academic
 * Jacob Breda Bull (1853 in Rendalen – 1930), a Norwegian author, journalist, and editor
 * David P. Kvile (1861–1918), a teacher, farmer, politician and teacher in Øvre Rendal
 * Peder E. Vorum (1884–1970), an educator, politician, mayor of Ytre Rendal from 1913 to 1934, member of Nasjonal Samling in 1940, and collaborator during WWII who was convicted of treason in 1948
 * Ottar E. Akre (1896 in Ytre Rendal – 1992), a Norwegian accordionist, composer, and educator
 * Sigurd Akre-Aas (1897 in Ytre Rendal – 1968), a Norwegian fencer who competed at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics
 * Oddbjørn Hagen (1908 in Ytre Rendal – 1983), a Norwegian skier who competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics, gold medal winner in the Nordic combined, and twice silver medalist in cross-country skiing
 * Kjell Borgen (1939–1996), a politician, former Minister of Transport, and secondary school teacher in Rendalen from 1962 to 1966
 * Ola Otnes (born 1951 in Rendalen), a Norwegian actor
 * Guren Hagen, (Norwegian Wiki) (born 1959 in Rendalen), a musician

Twin towns – Sister cities
Rendalen has sister city agreements with the following places:
 * - Aalborg, Region Nordjylland, Denmark
 * 🇫🇮 - Liperi, Itä-Suomi, Finland
 * 🇸🇪 - Orsa, Dalarna County, Sweden