Editing Etnedal (section)

==General information==
[[File:Bruflat kirke, Etnedal.jpg|thumb|left|Bruflat church]]
[[File:Lunde Bru, Norway.JPG|thumb|left|Lunde bridge - the inspiration for the municipal arms]]
Etnedal was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1894 by merging the eastern valley area of ''Nordre Etnedal'' (population: 362) from the neighboring [[Nord-Aurdal|Nordre Aurdal]] municipality and the ''Søndre Etnedal'' area (population: 1,331) from the neighboring municipality of [[Sør-Aurdal|Søndre Aurdal]]. On 1 January 1979, there was a border adjustment in an unpopulated area where part of Etnedal was transferred to Nord-Aurdal and another part of Nord-Aurdal that was transferred to Etnedal.<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><ref name="snl" />

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the ''Etnedalen'' valley ({{langx|non|Etnardalr}}) since it was a central geographic feature of the municipality. The first element is the [[genitive case]] of local [[Etna (river)|Etna]] river {{lang|non|Etn}}. The meaning of the river name is uncertain but it is possibly derived from {{wikt-lang|non|etja}} which means to "push forward" or from {{wikt-lang|non|eta}} which means to "eat". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJMOAAAAYAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (anden halvdel) |date=1902 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=4-2 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=242 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Etnedalen''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Etnedal'', removing the [[Definite article|definite form]] ending ''-en''.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1917 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381014_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Kristiania, Norge |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |pages=1057–1065}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted by royal decree on 14 July 1989. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]], an arched bridge [[Or (heraldry)|Or]]"'' ({{langx|no|På blå grunn ei gull kvelvingsbru}}). This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is an arched bridge. The bridge has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms were designed to symbolize the old Lunde [[bridge]] ({{lang|no|Lundebru}}) which is one of the best preserved stone bridges in Norway. The bridge is now a national monument. It is also [[Northern Europe]]'s largest [[dry stone]]-arch bridge. The bridge was built in 1829 on the [[Pilgrim's Route|Old King's Road]] connecting the cities of [[Oslo]] and [[Bergen]]. A portion of the king's road was refurbished and turned into a footpath in 1992 and is now a natural and cultural walking path. The arms were designed by Ivar Aars. 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=Etnedal |access-date=2023-04-22 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Etnedal, Oppland (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-05-41.html |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1989-09-09 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1989-07-14-635 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kommunevåpenet-bru i blått |url=http://www.etnedal.kommune.no/artikkel.aspx?MId1=1&AId=440&back=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165651/http://www.etnedal.kommune.no/artikkel.aspx?MId1=1&AId=440&back=1 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |access-date=2008-12-30 |publisher=Etnedal kommune |language=no}}</ref>

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

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Etnedal'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Etnedal||[[Bruflat Church]]||[[Bruflat]]||1750
|-
|rowspan="1"|Nord-Etnedal||[[Nord-Etnedal Church]]||[[Brøtahaugen]]||1866
|}