Ask, Hordaland

Ask is a small village in the eastern part of Askøy municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. The village lies along the Byfjorden on the eastern shore of the island of Askøy. The village of Ask is well known for the farming of strawberries which are sold in the marketplace in the nearby city of Bergen during the summer season.

Due to its pleasant climate and its location on an island near Bergen, Ask was the location of a kongsgård (i.e., royal farm – the Norwegian equivalent of a palace estate). Ask gård (literally Ask farm), with the farm number 1, was the basis for the name of Askøy. This was also the site of the extremely old church and churchyard which was in use from around the year 1200 until 1741. Today the old church site is marked by a stone cross. A newer Ask Church was built in the centre of Ask in 1741. Ask village is the saga location for a famous dispute over inheritance between Egill Skallagrímsson and Berg-Önundr. When Berg-Önundr refused to allow Egill to claim his wife Ásgerðr's share of her father's inheritance, Egill challenged Önundr to a holmgang.

Hordaland

Hordaland [ˈhɔrdɑˈlɑn]  ( listen) is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county government is the Hordaland County Municipality which is located in Bergen. Before 1972, the city of Bergen was its own separate county apart from Hordaland.

Name and symbols

Name

Hordaland (Old Norse: Hǫrðaland) is the old name of the region which was revived in 1919. The first element is the plural genitive case of hǫrðar, the name of an old Germanic tribe (see Charudes). The last element is land which means "land" or "region" in the Norwegian language.

Until 1919 the name of the county was Søndre Bergenhus amt which meant "(the) southern (part of) Bergenhus amt". (The old Bergenhus amt was created in 1662 and was divided into Northern and Southern parts in 1763.)

Flag

The flag of Hordaland shows two golden axes and a crown in red. The flag is a banner of the coat of arms derived from the old seal of the guild of St. Olav from Onarheim in Tysnes municipality. This seal was used by the delegates of Sunnhordland in 1344 on the document to install king Haakon V of Norway. It was thus the oldest symbol used for the region and adapted as the arms and flag in 1961. The symbols refer to the patron saint of the guild, Saint Olav, King of Norway, whose symbol is an axe.

Hordaland (newspaper)

Hordaland is a local newspaper published in Voss, Norway. It is published three days a week, and covers Ulvik, Granvin, Vaksdal and Modalen in addition to Voss.

History and profile

Established in 1883, Hordaland was affiliated with the Liberal Party of Norway. The party ties were abolished in 1972. The chief editor is Sigmund Midttun.

It had a circulation of 9,600 of whom 8,726 are subscribers in 2008. It is published by Hordaland Bladdrift AS, which is in turn owned by private persons.

The paper was awarded the European Newspaper of the Year in the category of local newspaper by the European Newspapers Congress in 2011.

References