Sogn og Fjordane fylke
—  County  —
Coat of arms
Sogn og Fjordane within Norway
Country	Norway
County	Sogn og Fjordane
Region	Vestlandet
County ID	NO-14
Official language form	Nynorsk
Administrative centre	Hermansverk
Government
• Governor	Oddvar Flæte   (1994–present)
• County mayor	Nils R. Sandal   Senterpartiet   (2003–present)
Area (#8 in Norway, 5.81% of Norway's land area)
• Total	18,623 km2 (7,190 sq mi)
• Land	17,709 km2 (6,837 sq mi)
• Water	914 km2 (353 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	109,800
• Density	5.9/km2 (15/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	-0.5 %
• Rank in Norway	17 (2.21% of country)
Time zone	CET (UTC+01)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+02)
Income (per capita)	134,400 NOK
GDP (per capita)	231,982 NOK (2001)
National Rank:	16 (1.63% of country)
Website	www.sfj.no
Data from Statistics Norway

 Sogn og Fjordane (help·info) is a county in Norway, bordering Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland. The county administration is in the town of Hermansverk in Leikanger municipality while the largest town is Førde.

Although Sogn og Fjordane has some industry, predominantly hydroelectricity and aluminium, it is predominantly agricultural. Sogn og Fjordane is also home to the Urnes stave church and Nærøyfjord, which is listed by UNESCO as world heritage sites.

The Høgskulen i Sogn og Fjordane (Sogn og Fjordane University College) has campuses in Sogndal, Sandane, and Førde.

Name[link]

The name Sogn og Fjordane was created in 1919. The first element is the name of the region Sogn. The last element is the plural definite form of fjord, which refers to the two regions in the county called Nordfjord and Sunnfjord.

Prior to 1919, the name of the county was Nordre Bergenhus amt which meant "(the) northern (part of) Bergenhus amt". (The old Bergenhus amt, created in 1662, was divided in 1763.)

Coat of arms[link]

The Coat of arms of Sogn og Fjordane were granted on 23 September 1983. The arms show the geographical layout of the county: three large fjords protruding into the land. The three fjords are the Nordfjord, Sunnfjord and Sognefjord. Nearly all villages and towns are situated on one of these fjords and the name of the county is based on the fjords.^[1]

Districts[link]

The county is conventionally divided into three traditional districts. These are Sogn (in the south), Sunnfjord (in the center), and Nordfjord (in the north). Sogn surrounds the Sognefjord from Solund on the offshore island of Sula in the North Sea to the village of Skjolden in Luster along the Lustrafjord, a branch of the Sognefjord. The total length is 204 kilometres (127 mi).

Language[link]

Sogn og Fjordane is the only county in which all municipalities have declared Nynorsk to be their official written form of the Norwegian language.

History[link]

The county currently consists of the two historic counties: Firdafylke (now the Fjordane region) and Sygnafylke (now the Sogn region). These both were formed in the Middle Ages under the Gulating government. They were merged with Hordafylke (now Hordaland) and Sunnmørafylke (now Sunnmøre) to form the Bergenhus len in the late Middle Ages. The Bergenhus len was one of four len in Norway. It was administered from the Bergenhus Fortress in Bergen.^[2]

On 19 February 1662, a royal decree changed the name to Bergenhus amt. The Sunnmøre region was moved to Romsdal county in 1689. Later, in 1763, the amt was divided in half creating: Nordre Bergenhus and Søndre Bergenhus. Later, on 1 January 1919, Nordre Bergenhus amt was renamed Sogn og Fjordane fylke during a period of time when many location names were changed.^[3]

Government[link]

A county (fylke) is the chief local administrative area in Norway. The whole country is divided into 19 counties. A county is also an election area, with popular votes taking place every 4 years. In Sogn og Fjordane, 39 members are elected to form a county council (Fylkesting). Heading the Fylkesting is the county mayor (fylkesordførar). Since 2003, the Sogn og Fjordane county municipality has been led by Nils R. Sandal, the county mayor.^[3]

The county also has a County Governor (fylkesmann) who is the representative of the King and Government of Norway. Oddvar Flæte has been the County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane since 1994.

The municipalities of Sogn og Fjordane are divided among three district courts (tingrett): Sogn, Fjordane, and Nordhordland. Sogn og Fjordane is also part of the Gulating Court of Appeal district based in Bergen.^[2]

• Sogn District Court: Aurland, Balestrand, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, Vik, and Årdal
• Fjordane District Court: Askvoll, Bremanger, Eid, Fjaler, Flora, Førde, Gaular, Gloppen, Hornindal, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Jølster, Naustdal, Selje, Solund, Stryn, and Vågsøy
• Nordhordland District Court: Gulen (and the rest of the Nordhordland district of the county of Hordaland)

All of the municipalities of Sogn og Fjordane except Gulen and Solund are part of the Sogn og Fjordane police district. Gulen and Solund are part of the Hordaland police district.^[2]

Geography[link]

It is mainly a rural area with a scattered population. Sogn og Fjordane includes the largest glacier in mainland Norway, Jostedalsbreen, in the Breheimen mountain range, and the deepest lake, Hornindalsvatnet. There are also many famous waterfalls located in the area. Ramnefjellsfossen (previously called Utigardfossen) is the tallest in Norway and third tallest in the world and Vettisfossen is one of Norway's highest waterfalls with a vertical drop of 275 metres (902 ft). Both are located in the Jotunheim mountains. Cruise ships visit Sogn og Fjordane all summer because of the unique vistas of high mountains and deep blue fjords.

The famous Nærøyfjord is located in the south of the county. This is a UNESCO listed fjord area. There are several archipelagos, including Bulandet, Bremanger and islands around Florø. The westernmost point in Norway proper is Holmebåen in Solund municipality. The island of Unst, part of Shetland Islands is around 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Holmebåen.

The terrain changes quite rapidly with mostly smaller mountains on the coastline, gradually increasing to mountains reaching more than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). Because of the steep rise in elevation and fjords cutting through the terrain, the amount of precipitation is very high. Low pressure systems come in from the west and meet the mountains (a phenomenon known as orographic lifting) and cause rain and snowfall.

• 

  Myklebustdalen valley east of Byrkjelo

• 

  The village of Hoddevik on the Stad peninsula in Selje

• 

  Some old houses in Lærdalsøyri, Lærdal

• 

  View from Aurland

Municipalities[link]

In 1837, the counties were divided into local administrative units, each with their own governments. The number and borders of these municipalities have changed over time, and at present there are 26 municipalities in Sogn og Fjordane.

Municipalities of Sogn og Fjordane
Key
Årdal Askvoll Aurland Balestrand Bremanger Eid Fjaler Flora Førde Gaular Gloppen Gulen Hornindal	Høyanger Hyllestad Jølster Lærdal Leikanger Luster Naustdal Selje Sogndal Solund Stryn Vågsøy Vik

See also[link]

• List of villages in Sogn og Fjordane

References[link]

External links[link]

• County web site (Norwegian)
• NRK County encyclopedia (Norwegian)
• Firda - Sogn og Fjordane's largest newspaper (Norwegian)
• forum.firda.no - Sogn og Fjordane's largest discussion group (Norwegian)

v t e Municipalities of Sogn og Fjordane Nordfjord Bremanger Eid Gloppen Hornindal Selje Stryn Vågsøy Sunnfjord Askvoll Fjaler Flora Førde Gaular Jølster Naustdal Sogn Årdal Aurland Balestrand Gulen Høyanger Hyllestad Lærdal Leikanger Luster Sogndal Solund Vik

v t e Counties of Norway Akershus · Aust-Agder · Buskerud · Finnmark · Hedmark · Hordaland · Møre og Romsdal · Nordland · Nord-Trøndelag · Oppland · Oslo · Østfold · Rogaland · Sogn og Fjordane · Sør-Trøndelag · Telemark · Troms · Vest-Agder · Vestfold

Coordinates: 61°20′00″N 05°50′00″E / 61.3333333°N 5.8333333°E / 61.3333333; 5.8333333

Sogn og Fjordane county—Sogn is colored yellow

Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway (Vestlandet). It is located in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, surrounding the Sognefjord. Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestrand, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Gulen, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, Solund, Vik, and Årdal. The district covers 10,675 square kilometres (4,122 sq mi) and contains about 35% of the county's population. The largest urban area in Sogn is Øvre Årdal, with 3,456 residents.^[1][2]

Name[link]

The name Sogn is very old, and it originally belonged to the fjord (now called Sognefjord). The name is derived from the verb súga which means "suck"—referring to the strong tidal streams at the mouth of the fjord. A parallel name for the district in Norse times was Sygnafylki. The first element in this name is the genitive of sygnir which means "people from Sogn" and the last element is fylki which is an old form of "fylke" which translates as "county".

Media gallery[link]

• Community in Sogn Norway.jpeg

  Shore community in Sogn, Norway

• 

  View of the mountains by Risnefjorden

• 

  Hafslovatnet with Sognefjord behind

• 

  Sogndalsfjorden and Barsnesfjorden

History[link]

Viking Age[link]

Since early in the Viking Age, Sogn was a petty kingdom called Sygnafylki. Some notable Kings of Sogn were Harald Gullskjegg ("Goldbeard", father of Ragnhild, first wife of Halfdan the Black), Halfdan the Black, and Harald Fairhair.

The Gulating met in the district of Sogn in the present day municipality of Gulen.

1662-present[link]

In 1662, Sogn fogderi was created as part of the Nordre Bergenhus amt. Sogn was further divided into Indre Sogn (Inner Sogn) and Ytre Sogn (Outer Sogn).^[3]

• Indre Sogn consisted of the present day municipalities of Aurland, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, and Årdal. The village of Sogndalsfjøra was the administrative center.

• Ytre Sogn consisted of the present day municipalities of Balestrand, Gulen, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Solund, and Vik. The village of Høyanger was the administrative center.

In 1919, Nordre Bergenhus amt was re-named Sogn og Fjordane fylke.

References[link]

v t e Municipalities of Sogn og Fjordane Nordfjord Bremanger Eid Gloppen Hornindal Selje Stryn Vågsøy Sunnfjord Askvoll Fjaler Flora Førde Gaular Jølster Naustdal Sogn Årdal Aurland Balestrand Gulen Høyanger Hyllestad Lærdal Leikanger Luster Sogndal Solund Vik

Coordinates: 61°11′N 06°48′E / 61.183°N 6.8°E / 61.183; 6.8

This Sogn og Fjordane location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Og’s bed (engraving circa 1770 by Johann Balthasar Probst)

Og, ("gigantic"; Hebrew: עוג‎, ^cog ˈʕoːɡ; Arabic: عوج‎, ^cogh [ʕoːɣ]) according to the Bible, was an Amorite king of Bashan who, along with his army, was slain by Moses and his men at the battle of Edrei. In Islamic folklore he is referred to as ‘Uj ibn Anaq (‘Ûj ibn ‘Anâq عوج بن عنق), one of the giants mentioned in the Qur'an (jababirat or jabbirun).

Og is mentioned in Jewish folklore as being alive from the time of Noah up until the time of his death in battle with the Israelites. It is also written in the Midrash^[1] that he had a special compartment in Noah's Ark just for him. Aggadah suggests an alternative to this; that he sat upon the top of the ark, riding out the flood for the duration of the storm from this location.

The destruction of King Og[link]

Og is introduced in the Book of Numbers. Like his neighbor Sihon of Heshbon, whom Moses had previously conquered at the battle of Jahaz he was an Amorite king, the ruler of Bashan, which contained sixty walled cities and many unwalled towns, with his capital at Ashtaroth (probably modern Tell Ashareh, where there still exists a 70-foot mound).

The Book of Deuteronomy continues:

"Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei." Moses speaks: "The LORD said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon ... So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors." ... "At that time we took all his cities, there was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan ... destroying every city, men, women and children ... But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves."

Og's destruction is told in Psalms 135:11 and 136:20 as one of many great victories for the nation of Israel, and the book of Amos 2:9 may refer to Og as "the Amorite" whose height was like the height of the cedars and whose strength was like the oaks.

Og and the Rephaim[link]

Some see Rujm el-Hiri, dating from the third Millennium BC in the Golan Heights, as a source for legends about "a remnant of the giants" for Og.^[2]

In Deut. 3:11 and later in the book of Numbers and Joshua, Og is pronounced as the last of the Rephaim. Rephaim is a Hebrew word for giants. Deut. 3:11 declares that his "bedstead" (translated in some texts as "sarcophagus") of iron is "nine cubits in length and four cubits in width" (13.5 ft x 6 ft) according to the standard cubit of a man. It goes on to say that at the royal city of Rabbah of the Ammonites, his giant bedstead could still be seen as a novelty at the time the narrative was written. If the giant king's bedstead was built in proportion to his size as most beds are, he may have been between 9 to 13 feet in height. However, later Rabbinic tradition has it, that the length of his bedstead was measured with the cubits of Og himself. The Talmud further embellishes in fantastic detail that Og was so large that he sought the destruction of the Israelites by uprooting a mountain so large, that it would have crushed the entire Israelite encampment. Moses, fulfilling the LORD's injunction not to fear him, seized a spear of ten cubits length, and jumped a similar vertical distance, succeeding in stabbing Og in the ankle. The LORD then caused Og's teeth to lengthen until they grew into the mountain he held aloft; millions of ants then swarmed into his mouth, killing him.^[3] It is noteworthy that the region north of the river Jabbok, or Bashan, "the land of Rephaim", contains hundreds of megalithic stone tombs (dolmen) dating from the 5th to 3rd millennia BC. In 1918, Gustav Dalman discovered in the neighborhood of Amman Jordan (Amman is built on the ancient city of Rabbah of Ammon) a noteworthy dolmen which matched the approximate dimensions of Og's bed as described in the Bible. Such ancient rock burials are seldom seen west of the Jordan river, and the only other concentration of these megaliths are to be found in the hills of Judah in the vicinity of Hebron, where the giant sons of Anak were said to have lived (Numbers 13:33)^{[citation needed]}.

Og in non-Biblical inscriptions[link]

A reference to "Og" appears in a Phoenician inscription from Byblos (Byblos 13) published in 1974 by Wolfgang Rölling in "Eine new phoenizische Inschrift aus Byblos," (Neue Ephemeris für Semitische Epigraphik, vol 2, 1-15 and plate 1). It appears in a damaged 7-line funerary inscription that Rölling dates to around 500 BC, and appears to say that if someone disturbs the bones of the occupant, "the mighty Og will avenge me."

A possible connection can also be made with the much older Ugaritic text KTU 1.108, which uses the term "king" in association with the root /rp/ or "Rapah" (the Rephaim of the Bible) and geographic place names that probably correspond to the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei in the Bible, and with which king Og is clearly associated (Deuteronomy 1:4; Joshua 9:10; 12:4; 13:12, 31).

"Ogias the Giant"[link]

The 2nd century BC apocryphal book "Ogias the Giant" or "The Book of Giants" depicts the adventures of a giant named Ogias who fought a great dragon, and who was supposedly either identical with the Biblical Og or was Og's father.

The book enjoyed considerable currency for several centuries, especially due to having been taken up by the Manichaean religion.

Hurtaly[link]

In "Pantagruel", Rabelais lists Hurtaly (a version of Og) as one of Pantagruel's ancestors. He describes Hurtaly as sitting astride the Ark, saving it from shipwreck by guiding it with his feet as the grateful Noah and his family feed him through the chimney.

Literature[link]

• Kosman, Admiel: "The Story of a Giant Story - The Winding Way of Og King of Bashan in the Jewish Aggadic Tradition", in: HUCA 73, (2002) pp. 157–190.

See also[link]

• Gilgal Refaim
• Bergelmir
• Moses in rabbinic literature
• Finger of Og

References[link]

1. ^ Talmud Bavli Zabahim 113b; Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer (Heigar) “Chorev” Ch. 23 ד"ה וזה אשר תעשה; Yalkut Shimoni, Torah, Parashas Noach, Remez 55 ד"ה זכר ונקבה יהיו; Yalkut Shimoni, Torah, Parashas Noach, Remez 56 ד"ה ד"א ויהי לשבעת; Yalkut Shimoni, Job, Remez 926 ד"ה +לט+ התקשר רים. These sources were found using Bar Ilan CD.
2. ^ From Og's Circle to the Wise Observatory, Yuval Ne'eman, Tel Aviv University
3. ^ Talmud Bavli: Berachot 54b