Editing Stjørdal Municipality (section)

==General information==
[[File:Kjoepmannsgata.JPG|thumb|left|Pedestrian street in Stjørdal town]]
The old [[prestegjeld]] of [[Stjørdalen]] was established as [[Stjørdalen Municipality]] on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). On 1 January 1850, Stjørdalen Municipality was divided into two new municipalities: [[Øvre Stjørdalen Municipality]] (population: 5,199) in the east and [[Nedre Stjørdalen Municipality]] (population: 6,543) in the west. Later, on 1 January 1874, Øvre Stjørdalen Municipality was divided into two new municipalities: [[Hegra Municipality]] (population: 3,409) in the west and [[Meråker Municipality]] (population: 1,861) in the east.<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>

The present-day Stjørdal Municipality was established on 1 January 1902 when the old [[Nedre Stjørdalen Municipality]] was divided into three new municipalities: [[Lånke Municipality]] (population: 1,449) in the south, [[Skatval Municipality]] (population: 2,125) in the north, and Stjørdal Municipality (population: 3,158) in the central part. Originally, Stjørdal Municipality was quite small in comparison to its size today, but over time it was expanded.<ref name="Dag" />

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1962, Stjørdal Municipality (population: 6,204) was merged with three neighbors: [[Hegra Municipality]] (population: 2,704), [[Lånke Municipality]] (population: 1,967), and [[Skatval Municipality]] (population: 1,944) to form a much larger Stjørdal Municipality.<ref name="Dag" />

On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old [[Nord-Trøndelag]] county to the new [[Trøndelag]] county.

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the [[Stjørdalen]] valley ({{langx|non|Stjórardalr}}). The first element is the [[genitive case]] of the local river name {{lang|non|Stjór}} (now called the [[Stjørdalselva]] river). The meaning of the river name is unknown. The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|dalr}} which means "[[valley]]" or "dale".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kFFxvxaufcC |title=Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Trondhjems amt |date=1903 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=15 |location=Kristiania, Norge |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Stjørdalen''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Stjørdal''.<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> The pronunciation of the name ''Stjørdal'' in the local dialect is {{IPA|no|ʃøɽdaɽːɲ||Stjordal-local.ogg}}.

===Coat of arms and flag===
[[File:Flag of Stjørdal.png|thumb|left|140px|Flag of Stjørdal]]
On 29 September 1983, by resolution of its municipal council, Stjørdal adopted a new municipal [[coat of arms]] in red and gold, bearing a gold or yellow [[Lindworm]] (a two-legged [[dragon]] or [[wyvern]]) on a field of red.<ref name="komvapen">{{Cite web |title=Kommunevåpen (Municipal Arms) |url=https://www.stjordal.kommune.no/MerOm/Sider/Kommunevapen.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114060444/https://www.stjordal.kommune.no/MerOm/Sider/Kommunevapen.aspx |archive-date=2015-01-14 |website=Stjørdal Kommune}}</ref> The arms were granted on 25 November 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1984-01-20 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1983-11-25-1734 |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref><ref name="fotw" />

The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules]], a lindworm [[couchant]] [[Or (heraldry)|Or]]"'' ({{langx|no|I rødt en liggende gull lindorm}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a [[lindworm]] with two legs and two wings (also known as a [[wyvern]]. 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 arms were designed by [[Hallvard Trætteberg]].<ref name="hw">{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Stjørdal |access-date=2023-02-18 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref name="fotw">{{Cite web |title=Stjørdal, Nord-Trøndelag (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-17-14.html |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref> Most Norwegian municipalities have a banner of their respective coats of arms as a flag, and accordingly, the municipal flag of Stjørdal similarly bears a yellow [[wyvern]] on a red field.<ref name="fotw" />

Although the [[coat of arms]] is from modern times, the dragon motif of the arms was inspired by a [[Middle Ages|medieval]] seal for the district, dating from 1344.<ref name="hw" /> The old municipal seal was considered unsuitable for selection as the municipal coat of arms, because to obtain a municipal coat of arms and flag, a Norwegian municipality must fulfill certain heraldic requirements that do not apply to a seal.<ref name="komvapen" /> For example, a coat of arms will generally contain only one pictorial motif, while Stjørdal's seal had three motifs and failed to meet additional requirements concerning color elements.<ref name="komvapen" /> The municipality sought assistance from the [[National Archives of Norway]], and was referred to archivist [[Hallvard Trætteberg]], resulting in a collaboration to develop the new coat of arms.<ref name="komvapen" />

The dragon is a symbol of [[Margaret the Virgin|Saint Margaret of Antioch]], and its depiction is derived from Stjørdal's old seal, which showed Saint Margaret standing on a slain dragon.<ref name="komvapen" /><ref name="hw" /> According to Stjørdal's municipal website, both the four-legged dragon and the two-legged wyvern are used in ancient designs of arms going back thousands of years, and have "always stood as a symbol of authority, power, and exalted dignity of great national cultures."<ref name="komvapen" />

===Churches===
[[File:Stjördal IMG 5979 vaernes kirke from north.JPG|thumb|right|Værnes church from north]]
The [[Church of Norway]] has four parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within Stjørdal Municipality. It is part of the [[Stjørdal prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Nidaros]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|Churches in Stjørdal
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="3"|Hegra||[[Hegra Church]]||[[Hegra, Norway|Hegra]]||1783
|-
|[[Floren Chapel]]||[[Flornes]]||1936
|-
|[[Okkelberg Chapel]]||[[Skjelstadmarka]]||1905
|-
|rowspan="2"|Lånke||[[Lånke Church]]||[[Hell, Norway|Hell]]||1899
|-
|[[Elvran Chapel]]||[[Elvran]]||1893
|-
|Skatval||[[Skatval Church]]||[[Skatval]]||1901
|-
|rowspan="2"|Stjørdal||[[Værnes Church]]||[[Prestmoen]]||1100
|-
|[[Stjørdal Church]]||[[Stjørdal (town)|Stjørdal]]||2015
|}