Editing Lardal (section)

==General information==
The [[prestegjeld|parish]] of ''Laurdal'' (later spelled ''Lardal'') was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). The municipality included the three sub-parishes of Svarstad, [[Styrvoll]], and [[Hem, Norway|Hem]]. On 1 January 1983, an unpopulated area of Bergan, just south of Steinsholt, was transferred to Lardal from the neighboring municipality of [[Hedrum]]. On 9 January 1987, another unpopulated area was transferred to Lardal from the neighboring municipality of [[Hedrum]].<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> On 1 January 2018, the municipality of Lardal was merged into the neighboring [[Larvik Municipality]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-05-02 |title=Vedtak om sammenslåing av Lardal og Larvik kommuner, Vestfold fylke. Iverksetting og unntak fra kommuneloven, valgloven og enkelte særlover |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/2016-02-05-115 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the Lardal valley ({{langx|non|Lagardalr}}). The first element is the [[genitive case]] of {{wikt-lang|non|lǫgr}} which means "[[water]]" or "[[river]]" (referring to the local river [[Numedalslågen]]). The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale". Prior to 1889, the name was spelled ''"Laurdal"''. In 1889, the spelling was changed to "Lardal".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3YpBAAAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Jarlsberg og Larviks amt |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |year=1907 |edition=6 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=367–368 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> {{See also|Larvik|Lårdal}}

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 17 July 1992. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules]], a [[hulder]] [[Or (heraldry)|Or]]"'' ({{langx|no|I rødt ei gull hulder}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a [[hulder]]. The hulder 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 hulder is a part of old [[Scandinavian folklore]]. This was chosen to represent the large [[forest]]ed areas in Lardal that were said to be inhabited by hulder. The arms were designed by [[Arvid Steen]]. 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=Lardal |access-date=2023-10-30 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lardal, Vestfold (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-07-28.html |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1992-07-17 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1992-07-17-562 |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref> 

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] had three parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Lardal. It was part of the [[Larvik prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Tunsberg]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Larvik'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Hem||[[Hem Church]]||[[Hem, Norway|Hem]]||c. 1100
|-
|rowspan="1"|Styrvoll||[[Styrvoll Church]]||[[Styrvoll]]||c. 1150
|-
|rowspan="1"|Svarstad||[[Svarstad Church]]||[[Svarstad]]||1657
|}

<gallery>
Hem kirke.jpg|Hem church
Styrvoll kirke TRS.jpg|Styrvoll church
Svarstad kirke.jpg|Svarstad church
</gallery>