Selje

Selje is a former municipality in the old Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway and was located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The village of Selje was the administrative center this municipality. and neighborhoods in the municipality included Barmen, Ervik, Flatraket, Hoddevik, Hoddevika, Håvik, and Leikanger. On 1 January 2020 the municipality became part of the new Stad Municipality in the newly formed Vestland county.

Selje municipality had been located at the northwesternmost part of Sogn og Fjordane county. Most of the municipality was located on and around the Stadlandet peninsula as well as some small surrounding islands such as Selja and Barmøya.

At the time of its dissolution in 2020, the 226 km2 municipality was the 317th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Selje was the 279th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,757. Its population density was 12.5 PD/km2 and its population had decreased by 4% over the prior decade.

Selje was one of the first three Episcopal sees in Norway (Oslo, Nidaros, and Selje). After the diocese was moved to Bergen, monks took over the church in Selje, which was later destroyed by pirates in 1536. The municipality of Selje was also home to the Selje Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery located on the island of Selja. Ruins of the abbey and church can still be seen on the island.

General information
Selje was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The original municipality was identical to the historic Selje prestegjeld with the sub-parishes (sokn) of Hove and Vågsøy. The municipality originally included all of the Stadlandet peninsula, the island of Vågsøy and the mainland area north of the mouth of the Nordfjorden.

On 1 January 1910, the southwestern district of Vågsøy was separated from Selje to form two new municipalities: Nord-Vågsøy and Sør-Vågsøy. The sub-parish of Hove was renamed Selje at the same time. After the separation, Selje had a population of 3,367 residents.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipalities of Nord-Vågsøy and Sør-Vågsøy as well as a small part of southern Selje municipality were merged to form the new Vågsøy Municipality. The parts of Selje involved were the island of Silda, the Hagevik-Osmundsvåg area, and the farms of Sørpollen and Straumen. There were 344 residents in those areas that were moved out of Selje.

On 1 January 2020, Selje was dissolved as a municipality and it was merged with the neighboring municipality of Eid and the Bryggja-Totland area of Vågsøy and they formed the new Stad Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the small island of Selja since the first Selje Church was built there. The meaning of the name is uncertain. One possibility is that it is derived from the word which means "pasture shed", particularly used in the sæter mountain farms. A less likely possibility is that it comes from the word which means "room" or "hall", referring to the local cave where Saint Sunniva and her followers dwelled after reaching the island in the 10th century. Prior to 1889, the name was written Selø or Selløe.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 5 April 1991 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Azure, a half woman with raised hands argent" (På blå grunn ein halv sølv kvinnefigur med lyfta hender). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is the upper half of a woman with raised arms and crown. 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 woman is a depiction of Saint Sunniva, the royal Irish missionary who died as a martyr on the island of Selja while trying to convert he locals to Christianity. Later, the Selje Abbey was built on the spot where she died. She was later named the patron saint of the Norwegian Diocese of Bjørgvin and all of Western Norway. The arms were designed by Turid Haye. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Selje. 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 Selje 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 Selje:


 * 1838-1843: W. Koren
 * 1844-1849: Josef P. Moldestad
 * 1850-1857: W. Koren
 * 1858-1861: Josef P. Moldestad
 * 1862-1869: Julius Hartmann
 * 1870-1871: Peder I. Sandvik
 * 1872-1873: Knut Halvorsen
 * 1874-1875: Sivert J. Berge
 * 1876-1890: Christian B. U. Wiese
 * 1890-1891: Anders O. Listau
 * 1892-1895: Lars Strømme
 * 1896-1897: Anders O. Listau
 * 1898-1916: R. Hjertenæs
 * 1917-1922: Reiel Nybø
 * 1923-1928: Johannes J. Bortne
 * 1929-1941: Petter Vederhus
 * 1945-1945: Hilmar Ervik
 * 1946-1963: Johannes O. Sande
 * 1964-1967: Ragnvald Berge
 * 1968-1971: Julius Fure (H)
 * 1972-1975: Nils Sætren (Sp)
 * 1976-1981: Julius Fure (H)
 * 1982-1983: Magne Aarøen (KrF)
 * 1984-1989: Åge Starheim (FrP)
 * 1990-1997: Sverre Hoddevik (H)
 * 1998-2001: Magny Husetuft Myklebust (H)
 * 2001-2011: Gunn Helgesen (KrF)
 * 2011-2015: Ottar Nygård (LL)
 * 2015-2019: Stein Robert Osdal (KrF)

Geography
Selje was located in the northwesternmost part of Sogn og Fjordane county, in the Nordfjord region. It included the Stad peninsula and the islands of Barmøya, Venøya, and Selja. Selje was surrounded by water on three sides: the Sildagapet bay on the west, the North Sea to the north, and the Vanylvsfjorden to the northeast. Selje municipality was bordered to the south and west by Vågsøy Municipality and to the east by Vanylven and Sande municipalities (in Møre og Romsdal county).

Economy
Historically, the main industries in the municipality of Selje were fishing and farming. These industries were present in Selje throughout its existence, with the addition of new industries such as fish breeding, boat building, ready-made clothing manufacturing, and service industries. The Skorge Hydroelectric Power Station was located in the municipality.

Selja
On the island of Selja, a 15-minute boat trip from the village of Selje, lie the ruins of the Selje Abbey, its tower still intact. The abbey was built by Benedictine monks early in the 12th century in honour of St. Sunniva. The legend of St. Sunniva who was martyred here lives on. Norway has two male saints (St. Olav and St. Hallvard) and one female one, St. Sunniva, the guardian saint of Western Norway. According to legend, Sunniva, daughter of an Irish king, fled when her country was conquered by heathens and the new king wanted to marry her. She came ashore on the island of Selja. The St. Sunniva cave where Sunniva is said to have died is a large cavern containing remains of walls and traces of the first church dedicated to the Archangel Michael.

The island of Selja is also home to the following sites:
 * The site of the first Selje Church which was later moved to the mainland. The ruins of St. Sunniva's Church on the site where Olav Trygvasson built one of the first churches in Norway.
 * The ruins of St. Alban's Church, the monastery church dedicated to the English Saint Alban. The monastery ruins are still used for church ceremonies such as masses and weddings.
 * Several Viking graves and the remains of an Iron Age long house have also been found on the south side of the island.

Vestkapp
The part of Norway's mainland that is farthest west is in Selje. The West Cape (Vestkapp) is 496 m above sea level at the northwestern end of the Stad peninsula. It is a precipitous rocky plateau, almost flat on top, that drops steeply down to the sea. In good weather, there is a panoramic view in all directions. It is immediately north of the village of Ervik.

Ervik
Ervik is located by the ocean near the West Cape at the end of the Stad peninsula. The Ervik Church is located here in memory of those who died when the coastal express ship Sanct Svithun was wrecked here after being mistakenly bombed in 1943 by Canadian planes. Ervik has a fine sandy beach which is popular for surfing, and a river rich in trout and salmon.