Editing Frei Municipality (section)

==General information==
The municipality of ''Fredø'' (later spelled ''Frei'') was established on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). On 1 January 1882, a small part of Fredø Municipality (population: 40) was merged into the neighboring [[Øre Municipality]] to the south. On 1 September 1893, an area of Frei Municipality (population: 231) was merged into the newly-created [[Gjemnes Municipality]]. In 1897, the [[Grip, Norway|Grip archipelago]] (population: 198) was separated from Frei Municipality to form the new [[Grip Municipality]].<ref name="snl" /><ref name="Dag">{{Cite web |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |year=1999 |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |language=no |isbn=9788253746845}}</ref>

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1964, the northern part of the [[Frei (island)|island of Frei]] (population: 884) was transferred from [[Bremsnes Municipality]] to Frei Municipality. Also on the same date, the part of Frei Municipality that was located on the island of [[Aspøya, Tingvoll|Aspøya]] (population: 147) was transferred to the neighboring [[Tingvoll Municipality]]. On 1 January 2008, Frei Municipality ceased to exist when it was merged into the neighboring [[Kristiansund Municipality]] to the north.<ref name="Dag" />

===Name===
The municipality is named after the [[Frei (island)|island of Frei]] ({{langx|non|Freiðr}}). The name's original meaning is unknown, but it may be derived from {{wikt-lang|non|fríðr}} which means "lovely", "beautiful", or "fair". Prior to 1889, the name was spelled ''Fredø''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=691LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Romsdals amt |date=1908 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=13 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=348 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 6 February 1987 and it was in use until 2008 when the municipality ceased to exist. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules]], two crowns [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] [[Pale (heraldry)|in pale]]"'' ({{langx|no|I rødt to gull kroner, 1-1}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a two gold [[Crown (headgear)|crowns]]. The crowns have a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] which means they are commonly colored yellow, but if the shield is made out of metal, then gold is used. The two crowns symbolize the relationship between Frei and two Norwegian Kings: [[Haakon I of Norway|King Haakon the Good]] had a hunting lodge in Bjerkestrand in Frei in the 10th century, and the King and the villagers took part on the [[Battle of Rastarkalv]] in the municipality in the year 955. [[Håkon VII|King Haakon VII]] visited the village in 1955 at the 1000th anniversary of the battle. The arms were designed by the local architect and painter Nils Fiske. 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=Frei |access-date=2023-04-02 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Frei, Kristiansund, Møre og Romsdal (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-15-56.html |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1987-02-06 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1987-02-06-87 |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref> 

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] had one parish ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within Frei Municipality. It was part of the [[Ytre Nordmøre prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Møre]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Frei'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Frei||[[Frei Church]]||[[Nedre Frei]]||1897
|}