Røldal is a former municipality in Hordaland county, Norway.

The parish of Suldal had to be divided into two formannskapsdistrikt January 1, 1838 – this because the main part of the parish belonged to the county of Rogaland, while the annex Røldal belonged to the county of Hordaland. Røldal was merged with Odda on January 1, 1964.

The village lies on the route between the traditional Vest- and Austlandet, at the borders between the counties of Hordaland, Rogaland and Telemark. Røldal was formerly an independent municipality, but in 1964 Røldal became a part of Odda municipality.

Recognized points of tourist interest in Røldal include the Røldal stave church and Røldal skicenter in the Hordadal valley which is famous for receiving the most snowfall of any area in Norway. Røldal also is a point for access to the Hardangervidda plateau.

The Norse form of the name might have been *Røyrgudalr - and the first element would then be the genitive case of a rivername *Røyrga (derived from røyrr m 'rocky ground'). The last element is dalr m 'dale, valley'.




This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Røldal

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