Rødøy is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 ...

. It is part of the

Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly Districts of Norway, district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet moun ...

traditional region A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

. 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 ...

of the municipality is the village of

Vågaholmen Vågaholmen (sometimes shortened to ''Våga'') is the administrative centre of Rødøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located along the Tjongsfjorden, just west of the village of Tjong, Nordland, Tjong. References

...

. Other villages include Gjerøy, Jektvika, Kilboghamn, Melfjordbotn, Oldervika, Sørfjorden, and Tjong. The municipality consists of many islands to the west of Norway's second biggest glacier,

Svartisen Svartisen is a collective term for two glaciers located in Nordland county in northern Norway. It is part of Saltfjellet-Svartisen National Park, located in the Saltfjell mountain range. The glaciers are located in the municipalities of Beiarn ...

. The municipality is the 162nd largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Rødøy is the 325th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,139. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is and its population has decreased by 12.7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Rødøy was established 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). On 1 January 1884, the northern district of Rødøy was separated to form the new

Meløy Municipality Meløy is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Salten Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ørnes. O ...

. This division left Rødøy with 1,945 residents. The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time.

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 island of

Rødøya Rødøya is an island in Rødøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island is located just west of the mouth of the Tjongsfjorden, north of the island of Gjerdøya, and west of the mainland. There are ferry connections from the v ...

() since the first

Rødøy Church Rødøy Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Rødøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the island of Rødøya. It is one of the churches in the Rødøy parish which is part of the Nord-Helgeland prosti ...

was built there. The first element is which means "red" (probably referring to the color of the rocks of the island). The last element is which means "

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Rødø''. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Rødøy''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 12 February 1988. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

, a lion

couchant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a charge, a supporter, or as a crest. The attitude of a heraldic figure always precedes any reference to the tincture of the figure an ...

gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) that has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is red-colored

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

that is laying down with its head up and its tail dangling down. The arms are somewhat

canting ' (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: , Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, VOS Spelling: , ) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax () in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely (). Traditional consists of copper wax-con ...

because the municipal name means "Red Island", so the color red was chosen for the lion. The most striking formation on the island is a large, rocky mountain, which has a striking resemblance to a lion. The mountain's name is ''Rødøyløva'', meaning "the Lion of Red Island", which is why this was chosen for the municipal arms. The silver background symbolizes the sea. The arms were designed by Olga Grimsmo Nilsen, former teacher in a local school.

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 ...

has two parishes () within Rødøy Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Helgeland prosti (

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 Sør-Hålogaland Sør-Hålogaland is a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covers the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within Nordland county in Norway. The diocese is headquartered in the Bodø (town), town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the sea ...

Geography

The eastern part of Rødøy Municipality is located on the mainland, just west of the

Saltfjellet Saltfjellet is a mountain area in Nordland county, Norway that separates the two regions of Helgeland and Salten. It is also a cultural border between the Southern and Central parts of Sápmi. Geography and environment The Saltfjell is one of ...

mountain range. The rest of the municipality consists of islands to the west including

Gjerdøya Gjerdøya is an island in Rødøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in a group of islands located west of the peninsula between the Tjongsfjorden and Melfjorden. It lies south of the island of Rødøya, north of the island o ...

Storselsøya Storselsøya (also known as Selsøya or Hestmona) is an island in Nordland county, Norway. The island is divided between two municipalities: Rødøy Municipality in the north and Lurøy Municipality in the south. The island of Nesøya lies to t ...

, Myken, Nesøya,

Rangsundøya Rangsundøya is an island in Rødøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island of Rangsundøya is located off the Helgeland coast in a large group of islands. The island of Gjerdøya lies to the north, Storselsøya lies to the southwe ...

Renga ''Renga'' (, ''linked poem'') is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ''ku (''句), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 morae (sound units, not to be confused with syllables) per line are linked in succession by multiple poets ...

, and

. The westernmost part of the municipality is the Myken islands in the

Vestfjorden Vestfjorden (; sometimes shortened to ''Vestfjord'' in English) is a long fjord or oceanic sea in Nordland county, Norway. The name literally means "the west fjord", although it is called a fjord, it could best be described as a firth or an op ...

, where the Myken Lighthouse is located. The

Tjongsfjorden Tjongsfjorden is a fjord in Rødøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The long fjord begins just west of the Svartisen glacier; it flows west and flows into the Rødøyfjorden, which is just east of the island of Rødøya. The mountain, ...

is located in the northern part of the mainland of Rødøy, just north of the mountain Blokktinden. The Melfjorden is located in the southern part of the mainland, flowing out of the

Saltfjellet–Svartisen National Park Saltfjellet–Svartisen National Park () is a national park in Nordland county in Norway. It is located within the municipalities of Beiarn, Meløy, Rana, Rødøy, Saltdal, and Bodø. The park forms the centrepiece of a larger protected area ...

. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Steintinden.

Climate

The

Norwegian Meteorological Institute The Norwegian Meteorological Institute (), also known internationally as MET Norway, is Norway's national meteorological institute. It provides weather forecasts for civilian and military uses and conducts research in meteorology, oceanography an ...

has a weather station near the Myken Lighthouse on an island west in the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...

. Myken is situated from the mainland and north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. This is one of the most oceanic stations in Northern Norway. The current station has recording since 1992, and an earlier station at same location was in operation 1920–1991. The all-time high temperature is recorded July 1972; the all-time low is recorded in February 1966. The driest month on record is September 2015 with precipitation, and the wettest is October 1934 with . The average date for first overnight freeze (below ) in autumn is November 10 (1981-2010 average) at Myken.

Farms of Rødøy

Historically, the land of Rødøy was divided up into named farms. These farms were used in census and tax records and are useful for genalogical research. These are the farm names in Rødøy as they are listed in O. Rygh's series "

Norske Gaardnavne ''Norske Gaardnavne'' (English: Norwegian Farm Names) is a 19-volume set of books based on a manuscript prepared from 1897 to 1924 by Oluf Rygh, a noted professor of archaeology, philology, and history at the University of Oslo. The book contains a ...

" ("Norwegian Farm Names"), the Nordland volume of which was published in 1905. :''See also:'
Digital version of Norske Gaardnavne - Nordland
The farm numbers are used in some census records, and numbers that are near each other indicate that those farms are geographically proximate. Handwritten Norwegian sources, particularly those prior to 1800, may use variants on these names. For recorded variants before 1723, see the digital version of O. Rygh. Farm names were often used as part of Norwegian names, in addition to the person's given name and

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

or inherited surname. Some families retained the farm name, o
toponymic
as a surname when they emigrated, so in those cases tracing a surname may tell you specifically where in Norway the family was from. This tradition began to change in the mid to late 19th century, and inherited surnames were codified into law in 1923.

Farm maps

Note that each map has a maximum number of listings it can display, so the map has been divided into parts consistent with the enumeration districts () in the 1920 census. This map will include one farm name per farm number; other farm names or subdivision numbers may exist.
Coordinates are approximate.

Farm names and numbers

The following table is taken from O. Rygh's work, and has inconsistencies with the 1920 census. If you can't find an entry when you are searching for a word that starts with AE, Ae, O, A or Aa, it may have been transcribed from one of those letters not used in English. Try looking for it under the Norwegian letter; Æ, Ø, and Å appear at the end of the

Norwegian alphabet The Danish and Norwegian alphabet is the set of symbols, forming a variant of the Latin alphabet, used for writing the Danish and Norwegian languages. It has consisted of the following 29 letters since 1917 (Norwegian) and 1948 (Danish): The ...

Government

Rødøy Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is 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 ...

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 is under the jurisdiction of the

Helgeland District Court Helgeland District Court () is a district court located in Nordland county, Norway. This court is based at three different courthouses which are located in Brønnøysund, Mo i Rana, and Sandnessjøen. The court is subordinate to the Hålogaland C ...

and the

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Tromsø. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark as well as the island territor ...

Municipal council

The

() of Rødøy is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Rødøy is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position: *1838-1840: Carl T. Schmidt *1840-1842: Jakob Andersen *1842-1844: Hans Krey Hansen *1844-1848: Ole S. Jæger *1848-1850: Knud T. Hoff *1850-1852: Petter Nielsen *1852-1856: Caspar Hansen *1856-1860: Sophus F. Søeberg *1860-1861: Anton Andersen *1861-1865: Børge Motzfeldt *1865-1867: Andreas Olsen *1867-1871: Hans M. Jæger *1871-1875: Børge Motzfeldt *1875-1876: Jakob Gjertsen *1877-1878: Anders Larsen Hoff *1879-1880: Jakob Gjertsen *1881-1888: Hans M. Jæger *1889-1896: Simon Dahl *1897-1898: Lars Larsen Hoff *1899-1907: Rafael Røsok *1908-1922: Jørgen A. Selsø *1923-1925: Wilhelm Hoff *1926-1934: Peter B. Andersen *1935-1940: Toralf Heen *1943-1944: Arnulf Hansen ( NS) *1945-1947: Toralf Heen *1948-1951: Sigurd M. Carson ( Ap) *1952-1959: Olav Hoff ( KrF) *1960-1967: Sven Hansen ( Sp) *1968-1971: Hans Aakre ( KrF) *1972-1975: Sven Hansen ( Sp) *1976-1979: Hans Aakre ( KrF) *1980-1981: Magne Hansen ( H) *1982-1983: Sven Hansen ( Sp) *1984-1985: Gustav Lorentzen ( Ap) *1986-1989: Bernt Johan Arntsen ( Ap) *1990-1991: Gustav Lorentzen ( Ap) *1992-1995: Bernt Johan Arntsen ( Ap) *1995-2003: Johan Anton Svartis ( Sp) *2003-2019: Olav Terje Hoff ( Sp) *2019–present: Inger Dagmar Monsen ( Ap)

Notable people

Hans Olav Lahlum Hans Olav Lahlum (born 12 September 1973) is a Norwegian historian, crime author, chess player and organizer, and politician. He has written biographies on Oscar Torp and Haakon Lie, and a history book about all the Presidents of the United State ...

(born 1973), a historian, crime author, chess player, and politician; known for his unconventional style (he grew up in Rødøy, a small community that he says he did not find enjoyable)

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodoy Municipalities of Nordland Populated places of Arctic Norway 1838 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838