Bygland

Bygland is a municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. The municipal centre is the village of Bygland. Other villages in the municipality include Byglandsfjord, Lauvdal, and Åraksbø. The municipality is bordered on the north by Valle, in the east by Fyresdal (Telemark) and Åmli (Aust-Agder), in the south by Froland and Evje og Hornnes, and in the west by Åseral (Vest-Agder), Kvinesdal (Vest-Agder) and Sirdal (Vest-Agder).

General information

Bygland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Since that time, the municipal boundaries have not changed.^[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Bygland farm (Old Norse: Byggland), since the first church was built there. The first element is bygg which means "barley" and the last element is land which means "land" or "farm".^[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 15 November 1991. The arms show a European lynx (Lynx lynx), which symbolises the wild and rich nature and forests in the municipality.^[4]

Geography

Bygland lies in the middle of Setesdal, a valley and a traditional district in Aust-Agder that included the municipalities of Bykle, Valle, Bygland, Iveland, and Evje og Hornnes. The Otra river flows from the glacially scoured Hardanger plateau (Norwegian: Hardangervidda) in Telemark to the north, through the valley of Setesdal (and through Bygland), into the sea near Kristiansand. The lake Gyvatn is located along the border with Evje og Hornnes and Åseral.

Bygland is Aust-Agder's second largest municipality in area. The majority of the municipality lies about 700 metres (2,300 ft) above sea level. The municipality stretches from the small town Byglandsfjord in the south to the farms at Langeid in the north. Lake Byglandsfjorden is 40 kilometres (25 mi) long and lies on the river Otra. Other lakes include the Åraksfjorden, Gyvatn, Hovatn, Kvifjorden, Longerakvatnet, Straumsfjorden, and Topsæ.

History

The Setesdalsbanen was a narrow gauge steam railway which went between Vennesla and Byglandsfjord in Bygland. It was built in 1896. Setesdalsbanen operation was terminated in 1962 and the track was removed between Byglandsfjord and Beihølen.

Other transport up the Setesdal valley was provided by the steamships Bjoren and Dølen. First placed in operation in 1866, the Bjoren is still in operation as a tourist attraction on lake Byglandsfjorden.

Attractions

Byglandsfjord Station – railway station constructed in 1896
SS Bjoren is a wood-fuelled heritage steamboat that travels the route between Byglandsfjord-Bygland and Bygland-Ose on the lake Byglandsfjorden in the summer.
Bygland tower – a folk museum.
Rygnestadtunet – a museum with the cultural history of the Setesdal valley

References

↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
↑ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nedenes amt (in Norwegian) (8 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 204.
↑ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 2008-10-03.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bygland.

Look up Bygland in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
Aust-Agder travel guide from Wikivoyage
Culture in Bygland on the map (Norwegian)
The Steamboat Bjoren (Norwegian)

Municipalities of Aust-Agder

Åmli Arendal Birkenes Bygland Bykle Evje og Hornnes Froland Gjerstad Grimstad Iveland Lillesand Risør Tvedestrand Valle Vegårshei

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