Editing Meldal Municipality (section)

==General information==
[[File:Storaasfestivalen av olahaldorvoll 64.jpg|thumb|left|280px|The area of the Storås Festival in Meldal]]
The [[prestegjeld|parish]] of Meldal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). In 1839, the southern district of Meldal (population: 2,368) was separated to form the new [[Rennebu Municipality]]. This left Meldal with 3,184 residents.<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 switched from the old [[Sør-Trøndelag]] county to the new [[Trøndelag]] county.

On 1 January 2020, the neighboring [[Agdenes Municipality]], [[Orkdal Municipality]], and Meldal Municipality, plus the majority of [[Snillfjord Municipality]] were merged to form the new [[Orkland Municipality]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nye Orkland: Kommunene |url=http://www.nyeorkland.no/kommunene.403440.no.html |access-date=2017-10-02 |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named Meldal ({{langx|non|Meðaldalr}}) after its location in the [[Orkdalen]] valley. The first element is {{wikt-lang|non|meðal}} which means "middle". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale". Thus the name means "the middle of the valley".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |author-link=Oluf Rygh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGxBAAAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Trondhjems amt |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |year=1901 |edition=14 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=149 |language=no}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Meldalen''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Meldal'', 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 on 5 February 1985 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules]], an ear of corn in a [[Roundel (heraldry)|roundel]] voided [[Embattled (heraldry)|embattled]] [[Or (heraldry)|Or]]"'' ({{langx|no|I rød, et gull kornaks i tannhjul}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is the top of an ear of corn inside a gear-shaped circular ring. The charge 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 design was chosen to symbolize the importance of local industry and agriculture. The arms were designed by Harald Ekseth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Meldal |access-date=2023-02-14 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Meldal kommune, våpen |url=https://foto.digitalarkivet.no/fotoweb/archives/5003-Kommunev%C3%A5pen/Kart%20og%20tegninger%20og%20segl/Meldal%20fra%20SNL.JPG.info#c=%2Ffotoweb%2Farchives%2F5003-Kommunev%25C3%25A5pen%2F%3Fq%3Dmeldal |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=Digitalarkivet |publisher=Arkivverket |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] had two parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within Meldal Municipality. It is part of the [[Gauldal prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Nidaros]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Meldal'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|Løkken||[[Løkken Church]]||[[Bjørnli]]||1929
|-
|Meldal||[[Meldal Church]]||[[Meldal (village)|Meldal]]||1988
|}