Editing Marnardal (section)

==General information==
[[File:Koland Norway.jpg|thumb|left|View around the [[Koland]] area]]
[[File:Øyslebø kirke, Vest-Agder - Riksantikvaren-T206 01 0012.jpg|thumb|left|View of [[Øyslebø Church]]]]
Marnardal was established as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 through the merger of several municipalities. These areas that became Marnardal included all [[Bjelland (municipality)|Bjelland]] municipality except for the Midtbø and Ågedal areas (population: 535), all of the municipality of [[Laudal (municipality)|Laudal]], the Kleveland bru area of [[Finsland (municipality)|Finsland]] (population: 34), and all of [[Øyslebø (municipality)|Øyslebø]] municipality except for the Brunvatne area (population: 1,068).<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 2020, the three neighboring municipalities of [[Mandal (municipality)|Mandal]], Marnardal, and [[Lindesnes]] were merged into one large municipality called ''Lindesnes'' with its [[administrative centre]] being the town of [[Mandal, Norway|Mandal]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nye Lindesnes |url=https://www.lindesnes.kommune.no/lokaldemokratipolitikk-rad-og-utvalg/kommunereformen/1548-nye-lindesnes |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107015331/https://www.lindesnes.kommune.no/lokaldemokratipolitikk-rad-og-utvalg/kommunereformen/1548-nye-lindesnes |archive-date=2017-11-07 |access-date=2017-11-05 |publisher=Lindesnes kommune |language=Norwegian}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality is named after the Mandalen valley ({{langx|non|Marnardalr}}) in an attempt to revive the Old Norse name for the valley. The first element is the [[genitive case]] of the river name ''Mǫrn'' which is now called [[Mandalselva]]. The meaning of this old river name is uncertain, but it may be derived from the word {{wikt-lang|non|marr}} which means "[[sea]]". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale".<ref name="snl">{{Cite web |last=Store norske leksikon |author-link=Store norske leksikon |title=Marnardal |url=https://snl.no/Marnardal |access-date=2016-11-30 |language=Norwegian}}</ref> {{See also|Mandal (municipality)#Name}}

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 19 June 1987 until the municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Vert (heraldry)|Vert]], three pine cones in [[Pall (heraldry)|pall]] stems conjoined [[Or (heraldry)|Or]]"'' ({{langx|no|I grønt tre gull furukongler forent i trepass}}). This means the arms have a green [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a [[pine]] [[conifer cone|cone]]. The pine cones have 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 green color in the field and the choice of pine cones on the arms symbolize the importance of the forests which cover areas of the municipality. There are three conjoined pine cones to represent each of the three former municipalities of [[Bjelland (municipality)|Bjelland]], [[Laudal (municipality)|Laudal]], and [[Øyslebø (municipality)|Øyslebø]] which were merged into Marnardal in 1964. The arms were designed by Ulf Dreyer using an idea by Kjersti Tveit Nilsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref name="snl" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Marnardal |access-date=2023-01-21 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Marnardal, Vest-Agder (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-10-21.html |access-date=2023-01-21 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1987-06-19 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1987-06-19-531?q=flagg |access-date=2023-01-21 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has three parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Marnardal. It is part of the [[Mandal prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Agder og Telemark]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Marnardal'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Bjelland||[[Bjelland Church]]||[[Bjelland]]||1793
|-
|rowspan="1"|Laudal||[[Laudal Church]]||[[Laudal]]||1826
|-
|rowspan="1"|Øyslebø||[[Øyslebø Church]]||[[Øyslebø]]||1797
|}