Hallingdal

Hallingdal (English: Halling Valley) is a valley as well as a traditional district located in Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol.

Hallingdal is one of the major valleys of eastern Norway, on an area of 5,830 square kilometers. Hallingdal lies in the northern part of the county of Buskerud. The valley stretches from Gulsvik by Lake Krøderen to the border with Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane. Central to the geography is relatively flat mountain area which lies from 700 to 1100 meters above sea level. The valley is V-shaped and is drained by the Hallingdal River (Hallingdalsvassdraget) which originates in the western parts of Hardangervidda and flows eastwards later southwards through Hallingdal.

Etymology

The Old Norse form of the name was Haddingjadalr. The first recorded case beginning with Hall- is from 1443. The first element seems to be the genitive case of the name of the people Haddingjar or of the male name Haddingi. In Flateyjarbók, a man named Haddingr is mentioned as the king of Hallingdal. Compare with the first element in Gudbrandsdalen. In both cases the name is probably derived from the word haddr, meaning 'woman's hair' and the name can consequently be interpreted as meaning 'the long haired ones'. The last element is dalr which means 'valley, dale'.