Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, situated between the districts of

Gudbrandsdalen Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending tow ...

and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal,

Sør-Aurdal Sør-Aurdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bagn. Other villages in the municipality include Begna, Hedalen, a ...

, 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 The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

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

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

and

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

. 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 or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

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, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

stem words ''völlr'' (a mountainous

plain In geography, a plain 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 as plateaus or uplands ...

) 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 million yea ...

). 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 county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). ...

county. It consists of the municipalities Nord-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 Valdres Line ( no, Valdresbanen) was a Norway, Norwegian railway that connected to the Gjøvik Line at Eina Station, Eina with Fagernes in the district of Valdres. The first stretch opened on 23 November 1902, and the entire route was opera ...

, the railroad connection from

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

Valdres March

Valdres March ( no, Valdresmarsjen) is the title of a Norwegian march composed by

Johannes Hanssen Johannes Hanssen (2 December 1874 in Ullensaker – 25 November 1967 in Oslo) was a Norwegian bandmaster, composer and teacher. He was bandmaster of the Oslo Military Band from 1926 to 1934 and again from 1945 to 1946. Hanssen received the King' ...

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 Helgelandsmoen is a village located in Buskerud, Norway. Helgelandsmoen is situated in Hole on the border between Norderhov in Ringerike. The village had 551 residents as of 1 January 2014, located mainly in the Hole, but extends partially int ...

, a small village in Hole, Ringerike. The melody of the trio section was Hanssen's self composed

Hardanger fiddle A Hardanger fiddle ( no, hardingfele) is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than ...

"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 The baritone horn, or sometimes just called baritone, is a low-pitched brass instrument in the saxhorn family.Robert Donington, "The Instruments of Music", (pp. 113ff ''The Family of Bugles'') 2nd ed., Methuen, London, 1962 It is a piston-v ...

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