# Audnedal

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**Audnedal** is a [former municipality](/source/List_of_former_municipalities_of_Norway) in the old [Vest-Agder](/source/Vest-Agder) county, [Norway](/source/Norway). It was located in the [traditional district](/source/Traditional_districts_of_Norway) of [Sørlandet](/source/S%C3%B8rlandet). The [administrative centre](/source/Administrative_centre) of the municipality was the village of [Konsmo](/source/Konsmo). Other villages in Audnedal include [Byremo](/source/Byremo) and [Vivlemo](/source/Vivlemo). The municipality existed from 1964 until its dissolution in 2020 when Audnedal was merged into the neighboring municipality of [Lyngdal](/source/Lyngdal) in what is now [Agder](/source/Agder) county.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 251-square kilometre (97-square mile) municipality was the 302nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Audnedal was the 341st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,765.[1]

## General information

The old municipality of [Undal](/source/Undal) was established on 1 January 1838 (see [formannskapsdistrikt](/source/Formannskapsdistrikt) law). That municipality only existed until 1845 when it was split into [Nord-Audnedal](/source/Nord-Audnedal) and [Sør-Audnedal](/source/S%C3%B8r-Audnedal). Those municipalities were later divided also. Sør-Audnedal was divided into [Spangereid](/source/Spangereid) in 1899 and Nord-Audnedal was divided into [Konsmo](/source/Konsmo_(municipality)) and [Vigmostad](/source/Vigmostad_(municipality)) in 1911. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [Schei Committee](/source/Schei_Committee). This is when the present-day municipality of Audnedal was created.[2]

Audnedal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1964 when the municipality of [Konsmo](/source/Konsmo_(municipality)) (population: 712), the municipality of [Grindheim](/source/Grindheim) (population: 701), and the Ågedal and Midtbø areas (population: 96) of [Bjelland](/source/Bjelland_(municipality)) municipality were merged. This new Audnedal municipality mostly corresponded to the historical borders of the old municipality of [Nord-Audnedal](/source/Nord-Audnedal).[2]

On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Audnedal and [Lyngdal](/source/Lyngdal) merged into a new, larger municipality called *Lyngdal*.[3]

### Name

The municipality (originally the [parish](/source/Prestegjeld)) is named after the [Audnedalen](/source/Audnedalen) valley (Old Norse: *Auðnudalr*). The first element is the [genitive case](/source/Genitive_case) of the river name *Auðna* (now [Audna](/source/Audna)). The river name is derived from the word auðn which means "destruction" or "wasteland" (because of the flooding that often happens along the river). The last element is dalr which means "[valley](/source/Valley)" or "dale".[4][5]

### Coat of arms

The [coat of arms](/source/Coat_of_arms) was granted on 30 August 1991 and in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official [blazon](/source/Blazon) is *"[Vert](/source/Vert_(heraldry)), a circular sawblade [argent](/source/Argent)"* (Norwegian: *I grønt et sølv sirkelsagblad*). This means the arms have a green [field](/source/Field_(heraldry)) (background) and the [charge](/source/Charge_(heraldry)) is a [circular sawblade](/source/Circular_saw). The sawblade has a [tincture](/source/Tincture_(heraldry)) of [argent](/source/Argent) which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The green color in the field and the sawblade was chosen to represent the importance of the [timber](/source/Timber_industry) and [forestry industries](/source/Forestry_industry) in the municipality. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[6][7][8]

### Churches

The [Church of Norway](/source/Church_of_Norway) had two parishes (*sokn*) within the municipality of Audnedal. It is part of the [Mandal prosti](/source/Mandal_prosti) ([deanery](/source/Deanery)) in the [Diocese of Agder og Telemark](/source/Diocese_of_Agder_og_Telemark).

Churches in Audnedal Parish (sokn) Church name Location of the church Year built Grindheim Grindheim Church Byremo 1783 Konsmo Konsmo Church Konsmo 1802

## Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for [primary education](/source/Primary_education) (through 10th grade), outpatient [health services](/source/Health_care), [senior citizen](/source/Old_age) services, [unemployment](/source/Unemployment), [social services](/source/Social_work), [zoning](/source/Zoning), [economic development](/source/Economic_development), and municipal [roads](/source/Road). During its existence, this municipality was governed by a [municipal council](/source/Municipal_council_(Norway)) of [directly elected](/source/Direct_election) representatives. The [mayor](/source/Mayor) was [indirectly elected](/source/Indirect_election) by a vote of the municipal council.[9]

### Municipal council

The [municipal council](/source/Municipal_council_(Norway)) *(Kommunestyre)* of Audnedal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political [party](/source/Political_party).

### Mayors

The [mayors](/source/Mayor#Scandinavia) (Norwegian: *ordfører*) of Audnedal:

- 2003-2015: Tønnes Seland ([Sp](/source/Centre_Party_(Norway)))
- 2015-2019: Reidun Bakken ([KrF](/source/Christian_Democratic_Party_(Norway)))

## Geography

Audnedal was an inland municipality, located in the [Audnedalen](/source/Audnedalen) valley which follows the river [Audna](/source/Audna). The municipality of [Åseral](/source/%C3%85seral) bordered it to the north, [Hægebostad](/source/H%C3%A6gebostad) to the west, [Lyngdal](/source/Lyngdal) and [Lindesnes](/source/Lindesnes) to the south, and [Marnardal](/source/Marnardal) to the east. To the northeast, Audnedal bordered the municipality of [Evje og Hornnes](/source/Evje_og_Hornnes) in neighboring [Aust-Agder](/source/Aust-Agder) county.

Audnedal municipality had two large lakes: [Ytre Øydnavatnet](/source/Ytre_%C3%98ydnavatnet) and [Øvre Øydnavatnet](/source/%C3%98vre_%C3%98ydnavatnet). The [Mandalselva](/source/Mandalselva) river also passed through the northern part of the municipality.

## Attractions

- "Blomliknuten" [hiking](/source/Hiking) trail
- Sveindal [museum](/source/Museum)
- [Fishing](/source/Fishing) for [salmon](/source/Salmon) in the [Mandalselva](/source/Mandalselva) river

## References

1. Statistisk sentralbyrå (2017). ["Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)"](https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selectvarval/Define.asp?subjectcode=&ProductId=&MainTable=Folkemengd1951&nvl=&PLanguage=1&nyTmpVar=true&CMSSubjectArea=befolkning&KortNavnWeb=folkendrhist&StatVariant=&checked=true) (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-11-05.

1. Jukvam, Dag (1999). [*Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen*](http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf) (in Norwegian). [Statistisk sentralbyrå](/source/Statistics_Norway). ISBN 9788253746845.

1. ["Nye Lyngdal kommune Informasjonsbrosjyre"](https://web.archive.org/web/20171107055508/https://www.lyngdal.kommune.no/globalassets/bilder-og-dokumenter/kommunereformen/nye-lyngdal-kommune/informasjonsbrosjyrer/infobrosjyre-nye-lyngdal-1-2017.pdf) (in Norwegian). Lyngdal kommune. Archived from [the original](https://www.lyngdal.kommune.no/globalassets/bilder-og-dokumenter/kommunereformen/nye-lyngdal-kommune/informasjonsbrosjyrer/infobrosjyre-nye-lyngdal-1-2017.pdf) on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-05.

1. Rygh, Oluf (1912). [*Norske gaardnavne: Lister og Mandals amt*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt1LAQAAIAAJ) (in Norwegian). 9 ed. Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 155.

1. Store norske leksikon. ["Audnedal"](https://snl.no/Audnedal) (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2016-11-19.

1. ["Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen"](https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Audnedal). Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2023-01-20.

1. ["Audnedal, Vest-Agder (Norway)"](https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-10-27.html). *Flags of the World*. Retrieved 2023-01-20.

1. ["Godkjenning av våpen og flagg"](https://lovdata.no/dokument/LTII/forskrift/1991-08-30-593) (in Norwegian). *Lovdata.no*. Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 1991-08-30. Retrieved 2023-01-20.

1. Hansen, Tore (ed.) (2022-09-20). ["kommunestyre"](https://snl.no/kommunestyre) (in Norwegian). *[Store norske leksikon](/source/Store_norske_leksikon)*. [Kunnskapsforlaget](/source/Kunnskapsforlaget). Retrieved 2023-01-01.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Audnedal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audnedal) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audnedal?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.