Bessvatnet is a glacial

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

Vågå Municipality Vågå () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågåmo. Other village areas in Vågå include Lalm and Bessh ...

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). The n ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a 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 Jan Mayen and t ...

. The lake is located in the

Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, i ...

mountain range and also inside the

Jotunheimen National Park Jotunheimen National Park ( no, Jotunheimen nasjonalpark, "Home of the Giants") is a national park in Norway, recognized as one of the country's premier hiking and fishing regions. The national park covers and is part of the larger area Jotunh ...

. The lake lies just east of the mountain

Besshø Besshø or Besshøe is a mountain in Vågå Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The tall mountain is located in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The mountain sits about southwest of the village of Vågåmo and ...

. The lake Bessvatnet is known to everyone that has hiked the

Besseggen Besseggen or Besseggi is a mountain ridge in Vågå Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The tall mountain ridge is located in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The mountain sits about southwest of the village of ...

ridge, as the narrow mountain ridge runs between the southern end of the dark blue lake Bessvatnet on one side of the ridge and the green lake

Gjende Gjende or Gjendin is a lake in Vågå Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Jotunheimen mountain range and also inside Jotunheimen National Park. The proglacial lake shows typical characteristics of glacial formation, be ...

lies below the other side of the ridge.

Name

''Bessvatnet'' is named after the river ''Bessa''. The last element is the finite form of ''vatn'' which means 'water' or 'lake'. The name of the river is derived from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is 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 of Scandinavia and t ...

word ''bersi'' which means '

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the N ...

' thus the river name means 'Bear river'.

References

Vågå Lakes of Innlandet {{Innlandet-lake-stub

Name

See also

References