Rendal is a former municipality in the old

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

county,

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 ...

. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1880 when it was divided into

Ytre Rendal Municipality Ytre Rendal is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1880 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now part of Rendalen Municipality in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administra ...

and

Øvre Rendal Municipality Øvre Rendal is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1880 until its dissolution in 1965. The area is now part of Rendalen Municipality in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administr ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

was the village of

Bergset Bergset is the administrative centre of Rendalen Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located on the western shore of the river Renaelva, about north of the village of Otnes in the largely rural Østerdalen valley. The vi ...

where Øvre Rendal Church is located.

General information

Rendalen - no-nb digifoto 20151030 00041 NB MIT FNR 00762

Rendalen - no-nb digifoto 20151030 00049 NB MIT FNR 00774

The parish of Rendal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). This municipality was quite large, spanning from the

Østerdalen Østerdalen () is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in Innlandet county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large Glåma river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. Østerdalen is often subdivide ...

valley to the border with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. During the 1870s, discussions began on dividing the large municipality. On 1 January 1880, Rendal Municipality was split in two to create the new

(population: 1,868) in the north and

(population: 1,661) in the south. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1965, a new

Rendalen Municipality Rendalen is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bergset. Other villages in the municipality include Hanestad, Otne ...

was established, but it did not have quite the same boundaries as the old Rendal municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the Rendalen valley () which is located in the municipality. The first element is which means "

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

". The last element is which means "

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

" or "dale". The river Rena runs through the valley and it is not known if the valley was named after the river or if the river was named after the valley. A nearby mountain Renafjellet also has a similar name.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

had two parishes () within Rendal Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Rendal

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

and the

Nord-Østerdal prosti The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Innlandet county plus the parishes in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. The diocese is based at th ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Hamar The Diocese of Hamar () is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. Administratively, the diocese is divided into 1 ...

Geography

Rendal Municipality was located in the upper

valley.

Tynset Municipality Tynset is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tynset (town), ...

was to the northwest,

Tolga Municipality Tolga is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tolga. Other villages in the municipality include Hodalen, Øversj� ...

was to the northeast,

was to the east,

Trysil Municipality Trysil is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Inn ...

was to the southeast, Aamot Municipality was to the south, and Storelvedalen Municipality was to the west. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Sølen.

Government

During its existence, Rendal Municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the

Eidsivating Court of Appeal The Eidsivating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Hamar, with jurisdiction over the Eidsivating judicial district (), comprising the counties of Innlandet, Østfold, a ...

Mayors

The

() of Rendal Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position: * 1838–1845: Ole Johan Storm * 1845–1853: Jens Simensen Høye * 1854–1857: Simen Jensen Høye * 1858–1859: Jacob Eriksen Haarset * 1860–1861: Ola Jonsen Høye * 1862–1869: Simen Jensen Høye * 1870–1871: Johan Jensen Høye * 1872–1879: Ola Jonsen Høye

References

{{Authority control Rendalen Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1880 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838 Populated places disestablished in 1880