Editing Lesja (section)

==History==
{| style="float: right;" class="wikitable"
|+ Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Lesja by country of origin in 2017<ref>{{Cite web |title=Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by immigration category, country background and percentages of the population |url=https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selectvarval/Define.asp?subjectcode=&ProductId=&MainTable=FolkInnvkatLand&nvl=&PLanguage=1&nyTmpVar=true&CMSSubjectArea=befolkning&KortNavnWeb=innvbef&StatVariant=&checked=true |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702101705/https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selectvarval/Define.asp?subjectcode=&ProductId=&MainTable=FolkInnvkatLand&nvl=&PLanguage=1&nyTmpVar=true&CMSSubjectArea=befolkning&KortNavnWeb=innvbef&StatVariant=&checked=true |archive-date=2 July 2015 |access-date=29 June 2015 |publisher=ssb.no |language=English}}</ref>
 
|-
!Ancestry!!Number
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| {{flag|Poland}}||41
|-
| {{flag|Lithuania}}||34
|-
| {{flag|Somalia}}||16
|}
Since it is located on a pass providing access to the Gudbrandsdalen, ''Lesja'' lies on an important trade route used in prehistoric times.

=== Earliest recorded history ===
The area is first mentioned in the written chronicle of the [[Heimskringla]] ''(The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway)'' by [[Snorri Sturluson]]. The account of [[Olaf II of Norway|King Olaf]]'s (A.D. 1015–1021) conversion of [[Dale-Gudbrand]] to [[Christianity]] is popularly recognized. King Olaf's success was short-lived, for in 1029 the Norwegian nobles, seething with discontent, rallied round the invading [[Canute the Great|Knut the Great]], and Olaf had to flee. To avoid engaging a fleet of 25 ships, 400 of King Olav's men and 100 loyal peasant farmers from [[Romsdal]] built a road up from the [[Romsdalfjord]] which passed through the area that became known as Lesjaverk. His men fled along this road and across Gudbrandsdal. There he was not warmly received since he had killed King Thorer of Gudbrandsdal, so he went on to [[Hedmark]]. From there he proceeded to Sweden and on to [[Kievan Rus|Russia]]. On his return a year later he fell at the [[Battle of Stiklestad]].<ref>[http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Heimskringla Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson]</ref>

=== Lesjaverk (The Lesja iron works) ===
[[File:Lesjaverk.gif|thumb|right|The Lesja Ironwork, Norway, main building as it would have looked around 1752. The illustration by Professor Johan Meyer dates from 1910.]]
[[Iron smelting]] is recorded in Lesja municipality at [[Lesjaverk]] (Lesja Iron Works) as early as 1614, when [[Christian IV of Denmark|King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway]] authorized the Romsdal Market at Devold on the [[Rauma River|Rauma river]] 4 miles upstream of [[Åndalsnes]]. With this change, [[Molde (town)|Molde]] assumed the role as principal market town for [[Romsdal]] formerly held by [[Veøya|Veøy]]. This change was made to provide the ironworkers at ''Lesjaverk'' with a convenient outlet for their products as well as providing them a market to purchases goods and food supplies such as [[stockfish]] and grain.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stagg, Frank Noel |url=https://archive.org/details/heartofnorway0000unse |title=The Heart of Norway |publisher=George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. |year=1953 |id=ISBN none |url-access=registration |authorlink=Frank Noel Stagg}}</ref>

=== Art and culture ===
[[Jakob Klukstad|Jakob Bersveinson Klukstad]] (1710 to 1773), who was born in the parish of [[Lom Municipality|Lom]] spent most of his career on Klukstad farm in Lesja. Klukstad was the foremost Norwegian sculptor and painter of his generation. His work can still be seen in churches at Lesja, [[Skjåk Municipality|Skjåk]], and [[Heidal Municipality|Heidal]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Årsskrift for Lesja historielag |publisher=Lesja historielag |year=2000 |location=Lesja, Norge |language=no |trans-title=The yearbook for the Lesja Historical Association}}</ref>

=== Emigration from Lesja ===
The Lesja area in the [[Gudbrandsdal]] was source of numerous emigrants to America. According to Du Chaillu, "...during the great famine of 1867; a year memorable in the annals of Northern Europe, when, in consequence of an early and heavy frost in summer, the crops were destroyed, and desolation and death spread over vast districts. The lichen and the bark of the birch tree, mixed with a little flour, became the food of the people after the cattle had been eaten up and nothing else was left. The year following a strong tide of emigration set out for America."<ref name="Du">{{Cite book |last=Du Chaillu |first=Paul B. |title=The Land Of The Midnight Sun |date=1899 |publisher=George Newnes, Limited |location=London |page=123}}</ref>

===World War 2===
After the [[German invasion of Norway|German invasion]] of April 1940, while [[Haakon VII of Norway|King Haakon]] and the Norwegian government were moving from [[Elverum (town)|Elverum]] to the west coast, the King and Crown Prince Olaf arrived in [[Otta, Norway|Otta]] on the night of April 13. The prime minister and his colleagues, who were then in Lesja, were summoned and a communiqué, ending "God save Norway," and urging resistance to the unprovoked attack was issued. They now intended to relocate to the west coast, but the Germans had dropped paratroopers higher in the Gudbrandsdalen, at Dombås, cutting off the rail route. It was not until the evening of the 21st that the King was able to travel by road from Otta to Lesja on the east–west watershed and then down the narrow [[Romsdal]] to Åndalsnes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Greve |first=Tim |url=https://archive.org/details/haakonviiofnorwa0000grev |title=Haakon VII of Norway: The Man & the Monarch |last2=Kingston Derry |first2=Thomas |date=1983 |publisher=Hippocrene Books, Inc. |isbn=978-0-88254-812-8 |url-access=registration |authorlink1=Tim Greve}}</ref>

During the war a British fighter squadron (flying 'Gloster Gladiators') flew from the icebound surface of lake [[Lesjaskogsvatnet]]. [[No. 263 Squadron RAF]] operated with 18 [[Gloster Gladiator]] biplane fighters in late April 1940 as part of the [[Norwegian Campaign]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kersaudy, François |title=Norway 1940 |publisher=St. Martin's Press, New York |year=1987 |isbn=0-312-06427-6 |authorlink=François Kersaudy}}</ref>