Editing Nord-Aurdal (section)

==General information==
[[File:Dokkafjorden from Aurdal - panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|View of the Dokkafjorden area]]
[[File:Nord-Aurdal.JPG|thumb|left|Nord.Aurdal seen from Hippesbygde]]
The [[prestegjeld|parish]] of ''Nordre Aurdal'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). On 1 January 1894, the new [[Etnedal Municipality]] was established by merging the eastern valley area of ''Nordre Etnedal'' (population: 362) from Nordre Aurdal municipality and the ''Søndre Etnedal'' area (population: 1,331) from the neighboring municipality of [[Sør-Aurdal|Søndre Aurdal]]. On 1 January 1979, there was a border adjustment in an unpopulated area where part of Etnedal was transferred to Nord-Aurdal and another part of Nord-Aurdal that was transferred to Etnedal. Then on 1 January 1984, the unpopulated northern side of the [[Makalaus]] mountain was transferred from [[Sør-Aurdal]] to Nord-Aurdal.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |year=1999 |isbn=9788253746845 |language=no}}</ref><ref name="snl" />

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the ''Aurdalen'' valley ({{langx|non|Aurardalr}}) since it was a central geographic feature of the area. The first word in the name is {{wikt-lang|no|nord}} which is essentially a prefix that means "north". The second word comes from the local valley name. The first element of that word is the [[genitive case]] of the old river name, {{lang|non|Aur}}, now named {{lang|no|Bøaelva}}. The river name comes from the word {{wikt-lang|non|aurr}} which means "[[gravel]]". The last element of the second word is {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Nordre Aurdal''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Nord-Aurdal''.<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> Both {{wikt-lang|no|nordre}} and {{wikt-lang|no|nord}} mean "north" (more specifically, "nordre" means "northern"), so the name ''Nord-Aurdal'' means "(the) northern (part of) Aurdal". (The [[Church of Norway]] parish of Aurdal that had existed for centuries was divided into two in 1805, just over 30 years before the parish borders were used to defin the new municipality that was established in 1838.)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJMOAAAAYAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Kristians amt (anden halvdel) |date=1902 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=4-2 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=221 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> {{See also|Sør-Aurdal#Name}}

===Coat of arms===
[[File:Gentiana nivalis.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''Gentiana nivalis'' which is the flower depicted on the arms for Nord-Aurdal]]
The [[coat of arms]] was granted by royal decree on 13 December 1985. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Or (heraldry)|Or]], three [[cinquefoil]]s [[Azure (heraldry)|azure]]"'' ({{langx|no|På gull grunn tre blå fembladingar, 2-1}}). This means the arms have a [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) 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 [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is three five-petaled flowers. The arms show three blue flowers of the species ''[[Gentiana nivalis]]'' which are commonly called "Snow Gentian". The flowers, which are locally known as "the blue eyes of Christ", grow all over Norway, but they grow abundantly in this area. Three flowers were chosen to represent the three main settlements of the municipality: [[Aurdal]], [[Fagernes]], and [[Leira, Innlandet|Leira]]. This type of flower only opens in sunlight and heat, so it was chosen to symbolize being open and positive. The arms were designed by Bjørn Arnesen who based it off an idea by Ivar Aars. 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=Nord-Aurdal |access-date=2023-04-22 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nord-Aurdal, Oppland (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-05-42.html |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1985-12-13 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1985-12-13-2326 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kommunevåpenet for Nord-Aurdal |url=http://www.nord-aurdal.kommune.no/artikkel.aspx?MId1=1&AId=138&back=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716202945/http://www.nord-aurdal.kommune.no/artikkel.aspx?MId1=1&AId=138&back=1 |archive-date=2011-07-16 |access-date=2009-01-04 |publisher=Nord-Aurdal kommune |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has six parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Nord-Aurdal. It is part of the [[Valdres prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Hamar]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Nord-Aurdal'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Aurdal||[[Aurdal Church]]||[[Aurdal]]||1737
|-
|rowspan="1"|Skrautvål||[[Skrautvål Church]]||[[Skrautvål]]||1785
|-
|rowspan="1"|Svenes||[[Strand Church (Nord-Aurdal)|Strand Church]]||[[Synnstrond]]||1735
|-
|rowspan="1"|Tingnes||[[Tingnes Church]]||[[Fagernes]]||1972
|-
|rowspan="1"|Tisleidalen||[[Tisleidalen Church]]||[[Hovda]]||1957
|-
|rowspan="1"|Ulnes||[[Ulnes Church]]||[[Ulnes]]||1250
|}