Editing Mandal (municipality) (section)

===Name===
The municipality is named after the town of [[Mandal, Norway|Mandal]] ({{langx|non|Marnardalr}}), which in turn is named after the [[Mandalen]] river valley in which it is located. 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|url=https://snl.no/Mandal|title=Mandal|author=Store norske leksikon|author-link=Store norske leksikon|language=Norwegian|accessdate=2016-12-29}}</ref>

Prior to 1653, the town of Mandal was named ''Vesterrisør'' (meaning "western Risør"). The name was originally referring to the island ''Risøya'' outside the town, and the first element was added in the 16th century to distinguish it from the town of ''Østerrisør'' (meaning "eastern Risør"), which is now simply called ''[[Risør (town)|Risør]]''. {{See also2|the names of [[Marnardal]] and [[Risør]]}}