Nord-Odal Municipality

General information

The parish of Nordre Odalen was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time (something that is relatively rare for Norwegian municipalities).

Historically, the municipality was part of the old Hedmark county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became a part of the newly-formed Innlandet county (after Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged).

Name

The municipality was originally named Nordre Odalen (later Nord-Odal), after the valley in which it is located. The first element in the name is the word nordre or nord, both of which mean "northern". The last element of the name is the old district name Odalen (Old Norse: Ódalr). The first part of this is ǫ́ which is an alternate form of the word á which means "river" or "creek" (here it's referring to the Glåma river). The last part of this is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The prefix "Nordre" was added when the old Odalen parish was divided in 1819 into Søndre Odalen in the south and Nordre Odalen in the north. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Nord-Odal, using an alternate word for "north" and removing the definite form ending -en.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 10 January 1992. The official blazon is "Or, two wood grapples sable in pale" (Norwegian: I gull to svarte tømmersakser, 1-1). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The charge is two grapple tools lined up vertically. This design was chosen to represent the historic traditions of forestry and logging in the municipality. This kind of grapple was invented by a local boy named Nell Gravlie (1897-1980) when he was only 12 years old, the design was copyrighted in 1928. The arms were designed by Einar Skjervold. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within Nord-Odal Municipality. It is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Government

Nord-Odal Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Romerike og Glåmdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Nord-Odal Municipality 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:

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Nord-Odal Municipality is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Geography

Nord-Odal is situated in the Odalen valley around the northern edge of the lake Storsjøen and around the lake Råsån. The municipality is bordered to the north by Stange Municipality, to the east by Åsnes Municipality and Grue Municipality, to the south by Sør-Odal Municipality and Nes Municipality (in Akershus county), and to the west by Eidsvoll Municipality (also in Akershus county). The highest point in the municipality is the 641.46-metre (2,104.5 ft) tall mountain Årkjølen, on the northern border with Stange Municipality.

Notable people

Honoratus Halling (1819 in Odalen – 1886), a priest, magazine editor and non-fiction writer

Jon Hol (1851 at Ekornhol – 1941), an engineer and political activist

Harald Stormoen (1872 in Nord-Odal – 1937), an actor

Andreas Hofgaard Winsnes (1889 in Nord-Odal – 1972), a literary historian and educator

Sigurd Hoel (1890 in Nord-Odal – 1960), an author and publishing consultant

Marit Nybakk (born 1947 in Nord-Odal), a Norwegian politician of the Third Way

Einar Olav Skogholt (born 1947 in Nord-Odal), a politician and Mayor of Nord-Odal in the 1970s

Lasse Sætre (born 1974 in Sand), a former speed skater, bronze medallist at the 2002 Winter Olympics

Jan Werner Danielsen (1976 in Nord-Odal – 2006), a pop singer

Lise Selnes (born 1976), the mayor in Nord-Odal 2011–2021, and member of the Storting.