Hallingdal is one of the major valleys in Eastern Norway. The
valley is U-shaped and roughly coincides with the
Hallingdalsvassdraget. The valley floor extends northwards, from the
northern end of Lake Krøderen, through the north-eastern and
northern parts of the landscape Buskerud in Viken county, and is
surrounded by high mountains on both sides.
Hallingdal is one
of the country's busiest valleys with the Bergen line and national
road 7. With national road 52 and county road 50, national road 7
also has connections to Sogn.
At Gol, the valley floor bends
westwards, the side valley Hemsedal takes off northwards, and the
river Hemsil flows into the Hallingdal river. From Ål, a side valley
turns north to Leveld and Vats. West of Strandafjorden, the valley
splits in two. The main valley to the northwest leads to the village
center Hol by the Holsfjord. Ustedalen leads west along the river
Usta to Geilo.
The valley has been characterized by small
farms, ranching and a barren soil, where wool, dairy products and
meat production have been the main industries for centuries. Fishing
has been a traditional food week in the many mountain lakes. Since
the 1960s, the valley has had an explosive development in tourism
and cottage construction. The valley also has a number of large and
small hotels and accommodation companies, both down in the valley
and up in the mountains.
The Hallingdal district comprises
six municipalities with a total of 20,566 inhabitants (1 January
2015) and a total area of 5,830 km².
Ustedalen is the upper part of the valley towards Hardangervidda
and stretches from Ustevatnet to Hagafoss. Ustedalselvi flows from
Ustevatnet south of Hallingskarvet and Åni flows from Strandefjorden
north of Hallingskarvet, and the two rivers run together at Hol
where they become Hallingdalselva. The valleys are formed by
glaciers with thresholds between deeper parts and high, steep sides.
At Hol there is a marked step in the valley. The valley floor is
wide except for some narrow points ("clips"). At Gol, Hemsedal runs
into the main valley and the town of Gol is located on a gravel fan
deposited by Hemsil. From Ustevatnet to Gol, the river falls about
800 meters. From Gol to Krøderen through lower Hallingdal, the river
falls only 70 meters. The valley sides are steep and wooded, and the
buildings are concentrated in the valley floor where the river has
laid out fertile plains. In the winter, cold air from the mountains
descends into the valley floor where the air is further cooled, and
the temperature can fall well below - 30 ° C. Nesbyen has the heat
record for Norway with 35.6 ° C on 20 June 1970. Hallingdal has an
inland climate, but not as pronounced as Gudbrandsdalen. The high
summer temperatures are partly due to the fact that Hallingdal is
sheltered by high mountains. Østerdalen does not have as high summer
temperatures. There is more precipitation in the surrounding
mountains than in the valley floor itself. Right after the ice age,
the sea was about 200 meters higher than today and the salty fjord
included Krøderen and stretched almost to Nesbyen.
Eel was a
traditional center in the valley and has been bypassed by Geilo with
its ski lifts and hotels. Gol is the most central place in the
valley with traffic hubs, varied industry and high schools. In the
side valley Votndalen, the farms have traditionally been laid out on
the slopes of the sunny sides to avoid the frost in the valley
floor. When a new road was built in the valley floor, side roads
were built to the buildings in the middle slope. At Ål, the valley
floor is also referred to as Åldalen.
Skogshorn and
Reineskarvet consist of hard, crystalline rock.
The Old Norse name for Hallingdal was Haddingjadalr. The name form Hall- was first found in 1443 in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum. According to Sandnes and Stemshaug in Norsk stadnamnleksikon, A.B. Larsen transition to Hall- as a result of neighbor opposition. They believe that the first part may be the genitive majority of the popular name haddingjar and made in the same way as Hadeland and Hordaland, but are not sure of this. Another explanation they present is that the first part is the personal name Haddingi. In Flateyjarbok a Haddingr is mentioned as king over Hallingdal. In both cases, Sandnes and Stemshaug believe that this is probably a derivation of Old Norse haddr which means 'woman's hair'. Haddingi / Haddingjar must then be interpreted as 'the long-haired one'.
Hallingdal (Norwegian: Haddingjadalr) has its name from the time
King Hadding had power in the valley. King Hadding was one of the
small kings who ruled in rural Norway, before Harald Hårfagre united
Norway into one kingdom in the ninth century. King Hadding's
headquarters are said to have been at Garnås on Nes. The reason he
lived right here was most likely the good growing conditions on the
site, allegedly after a large meteorite struck in this area several
million years ago. In addition, this location provided a good view
of large areas of the valley, which was of course of great strategic
importance. From the reign of King Hadding, and until the 15th /
16th century, the valley floor was called Haddingjadalr. Towards the
end of this period, the Halling form was on its way to
incorporating. The old name form came from haddr, which was Norse
for "woman's hair", and may have referred to a man with long hair.
Traditionally, the northwestern areas of the valley have been
closely linked to Western Norway, especially in the time before the
Bergen line was laid through the valley. However, the central and
southern parts have been more closely linked to Eastern Norway,
especially Ringerike, which was strengthened with the opening of the
Bergen line. Hallingdal and Valdres belonged period to the
Gulatinget area and in the Middle Ages to the diocese of Stavanger.
Hallingdal was most likely mainly populated from Western Norway
and was therefore originally under Gulatinget and belonged to the
Stavanger diocese from 1120. After the change of spouse between the
bishops in Stavanger and Oslo, dated 10 April 1631, the then
Hallingdal and Valdres prostitute were placed under the Oslo diocese
, and thus Oslo lagdømme legally. When the diocese of Hamar was
re-established in 1864, however, Hallingdal and Valdres were
divided, as Valdres was added to Hamar, while Hallingdal continued
as a clerical district under Oslo, where Ringerike and Hallingdal
prostitute were established. However, these were separated into two
prostitutes from 1914, when Hallingdal prostitute was established as
his own prostitute. The prostitute came under the diocese of
Tunsberg when this was established in 1948, following a Odelsting
decision on 24 November 1947.
The prosthetic seat is located
in Ål, where Ål church is a parish church. Torpo Stave Church is the
oldest building in the valley.