Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and

Hallingdal Hallingdal () is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol. Hallingdal is one of the ma ...

. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre, Vang and Etnedal. Valdres has about 18,000 inhabitants and is known for its excellent trout fishing and the local

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

. Its main road is E16 and Fylkesveg 51. Valdres is located approximately midway between

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. The valley is protected to the west and north by the Jotunheimen mountains and the Valdresflye plateau and to the south by the Gol mountain ridge (''Golsfjellet''). The main rivers are Begna and Etna. Historically, Valdres has had an agricultural economy, but

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

has grown in prominence in later years. Beitostølen, a highly developed tourist area for winter tourists and who have hosted FIS Cross-Country World Cup multiple times is located in Valdres.

Etymology

The name of the district comes from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

stem words ''völlr'' (a mountainous

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

) and ''dres'' (a cleaved road to be ridden on by a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

). Another explanation to the etymology is that Valdres stems from ''"Valdles"'', which is from the stem words ''vald'' (forest) and ''les'' (pasture), i.e. "the valley of pastures in the forest".

Administration

Valdres is located in

Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...

county. It consists of the municipalities Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre, Vang and Etnedal. The main town in the region is Fagernes, where there also is an airport. European route E16 is the main highway. Valdresbanen, the railroad connection from

, was shut down in 1988 and the tracks are now removed.

Valdres March

Valdres March () is the title of a Norwegian

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

composed by Johannes Hanssen in the years 1901-1904 and published by Boosey & Hawkes. The main theme is based on the signature fanfare for the Valdres Battalion, which is based on an old cow call. The following second variation includes a halling from Helgelandsmoen, a small village in

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

, Ringerike. The melody of the trio section was Hanssen's self composed Hardanger fiddle "slått", which is a pentatonic folk tune, above a drone bass line. When the piece was first performed in 1904, the composer played the baritone horn part together with the band of the 2nd Regiment of Norway.

References

External links

Valdres Natur og Kulturpark Regional pagesValdres Destinasjon Tourism pages ''The Valdres March Music'' Valdres Pictures (1904)Valdres Radio

Fishing in Valdres
{{Coord, 60, 55, N, 9, 10, E, display=title, region:NO_type:adm2nd_source:dewiki Districts of Innlandet Valleys of Innlandet

Etymology

Administration

Valdres March

See also

References

External links