Editing Etne (section)

==General information==
[[File:Simlebu.jpg|thumb|left|Mountain cabins]]
[[File:Mosnes Etne.jpg|thumb|left|Village of Mosnes]]
Etne was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). Originally, Etne encompassed the area around the [[Etnefjorden]] and the surrounding valleys. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1965, the neighboring municipality of [[Skånevik]] was dissolved and merged into its neighboring municipalities. All of Skånevik located south of the [[Åkrafjorden]] and east of the village of [[Åkra, Hordaland|Åkra]] on the north side of the fjord (population: 1,493) was merged into Etne.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |year=1999 |isbn=9788253746845 |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the [[Etnefjorden]] ({{langx|non|Eðni}}). The name is likely derived from the old name for the river "Etneelvi", ''Atn'' or ''Etn''. The meaning of the old river name may come from {{wikt-lang|non|etja}} which means "to drive forward" or "to goad" or it might come from {{wikt-lang|non|eta}} which means "to eat".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ud5LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt |date=1910 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=11 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=64 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> {{See also|Etnedal#Name}}

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 16 December 1983. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Per pale]] [[Line (heraldry)|dovetailed]] [[Azure (heraldry)|azure]] and [[argent]]"'' ({{langx|no|Kløyvt av blått og kvitt med duestjertsnitt}}). This means the arms have are divided with a vertical [[line (heraldry)|line]] that is [[Line (heraldry)|dovetailed]]. The [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) to the left of the line has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of blue. To the right of the line, the field 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 was chosen to represent the strong unity between the two former municipalities of [[Skånevik]] and Etne that were joined to form one municipality in 1965. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland and John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Etne |access-date=2023-05-24 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Etne, Hordaland |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-12-11.html |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has two parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Etne. It is part of the [[Sunnhordland prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Bjørgvin]].

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Etne'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="3"|Etne||[[Gjerde Church]]||[[Etnesjøen]]||1676
|-
|[[Grindheim Church (Hordaland)|Grindheim Church]]||[[Etnesjøen]]||1728
|-
|[[Stødle Church]]||[[Etnesjøen]]||1160
|-
|rowspan="2"|Skånevik||[[Skånevik Church]]||[[Skånevik (village)|Skånevik]]||1900
|-
|[[Fjæra Chapel]]||[[Fjæra]]||1913
|}