Editing Gjesdal (section)

==General information==
[[File:Høgsfjorden Frafjorden.jpg|thumb|left|[[Høgsfjorden]] in front, [[Frafjorden]] in the back, looking east. Gjesdal includes everything in the forefront and right side, [[Forsand]] is on the left-back of the fjord.]]
[[File:Oltedal.jpg|thumb|left|View of [[Oltedal]]]]
[[File:Maanafossen3.JPG|thumb|left|View of the [[Månafossen]] waterfall]]

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the old ''[[Gjesdal (village)|Gjesdal]]'' farm ({{langx|non|Gesdalir}}) since the first [[Gjesdal Church]] was built there. The first element is probably the old name of the local river, but the meaning is uncertain. The last element is the plural form of {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u4pBAAAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt |date=1915 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=10 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=155 and 159 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

Before 1889, the name was spelled ''Gjæsdal'', which is the [[Danish language|Danish]] spelling. During the period from 1889 to 1917 it was spelled ''Gjesdal'' ([[Norwegian language]] version). On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Gjestal''.<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> This was changed to mimic the pronunciation of the local [[dialect]] (the [[voiced alveolar plosive|d]] in ''dal'' is pronounced [[voiceless alveolar plosive|t]] because of the voiceless consonant [[voiceless alveolar fricative|s]] in front). On 26 June 1964, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality back to ''Gjesdal'' as part of a border adjustment that was to take effect on 1 January 1965.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1964 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1964. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381023_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Oslo, Norway |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |page=471}}</ref> This change in spelling was made to bring the name back to the [[etymological]]ly correct form of ''Gjesdal''.<ref name="snl">{{Cite web |last=Store norske leksikon |author-link=Store norske leksikon |title=Gjestal |url=https://snl.no/Gjestal |access-date=2016-03-14 |language=no}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 15 March 1985. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]], a ram's head [[caboshed]] [[argent]]"'' ({{langx|no|I blått et sølv værhode sett forfra}}). This means the arms have a blue [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is the head of a [[Domestic sheep|ram]]. The ram head has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[argent]] which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The ram was chosen as a symbol because [[Sheep husbandry|sheep breeding]] and wool manufacturing have both been important throughout the history of Gjesdal. The wool industry was centered in the village of [[Ålgård]] where wool, textile, and clothing businesses have thrived. It is also an old heraldic charge, that may be found in a number of 14th century Norwegian seals. It depicts almost identical arms in a seal from 1400 of one Aslak Tordsson. The arms were designed by Kai Wood Moe after a preliminary draft by Jørgen Otteren. 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=Gjesdal |access-date=2023-07-02 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gjesdal, Rogaland (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-11-22.html |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1985-05-25 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1985-03-15-709 |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

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

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Gjesdal'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="3"|Gjesdal||[[Dirdal Church]]||[[Dirdal]]||1903
|-
|[[Gjesdal Church]]||[[Gjesdal (village)|Gjesdal]]||1848
|-
|[[Oltedal Church]]||[[Oltedal]]||2002
|-
|rowspan="2"|Ålgård||[[Ålgård Church]]||[[Ålgård]]||2015
|-
|[[Old Ålgård Church]]||[[Ålgård]]||1917
|}