Drangedal


Drangedal is a municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestestranda. The municipality of Drangedal was established on 1 January 1838. The district of Tørdal encompassed the northwestern part of the municipality.
The administrative centre in Drangedal, Prestestranda, and is situated by Lake Toke. The municipal government is located there along with primary and secondary schools, shopping facilities, and a bank. Drangedal railway station is also located in Prestestranda and is served by the Oslo to Kristiansand Sørlandsbannen railway line. The newspaper Drangedalsposten is published in Drangedal.
Alpine and cross-country skiing is possible in the area of Drangedal, at Telemark's largest ski resort at Gautefall.

General information

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Drangadalr. The first element is probably the genitive plural of drangr m 'mountain peak'. The last element is dalr m 'valley, dale'.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted 1989. The arms show two gold-colored pine cones on a green background.

Notable natives