Trøndelag


Trøndelag is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ; in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmark-Norway, and the counties were reunited in 2018 after a vote of the two counties in 2016.
The largest city in Trøndelag is the city of Trondheim. The administrative centre is Steinkjer, while Trondheim functions as the office of the county mayor. Both cities serve the office of the county governor, however, Steinkjer houses the main functions.
Trøndelag county and the neighbouring Møre og Romsdal county together form what is known as Central Norway. A person from Trøndelag is called a trønder. The dialect spoken in the area, trøndersk, is characterized by dropping out most vowel endings; see apocope.
Trøndelag is one of the most fertile regions of Norway, with large agricultural output. The majority of the production ends up in the Norwegian cooperative system for meat and milk, but farm produce is a steadily growing business.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Þrǿndalǫg. The first element is the genitive plural of þrǿndr which means "person from Trøndelag", while the second is lǫg. A parallel name for the same district was Þróndheimr which means "the homeland of the þrǿndr". Þróndheimr may be older since the first element has a stem form without umlaut.

History

People have lived in this region for thousands of years. In the early iron-age Trøndelag was divided into several petty kingdoms called fylki. The different fylki had a common law, and an early parliament or thing. It was called Frostating and was held at the Frosta-peninsula. By some this is regarded as the first real democracy.
In the time after Håkon Grjotgardsson, Trøndelag was ruled by the Jarl of Lade. Lade is located in the eastern part of Trondheim, bordering the Trondheimsfjord. The powerful Jarls of Lade continued to play a very significant political role in Norway up to 1030.
Jarls of Lade were:
in Trondheim
Trøndelag was briefly ceded in 1658 to Sweden in the Treaty of Roskilde and was ruled by king Charles X until it was returned to Denmark-Norway after the Treaty of Copenhagen in 1660. During that time, the Swedes conscripted 2,000 men in Trøndelag, forcing young boys down to 15 years of age to join the Swedish armies fighting against Poland and Brandenburg. Charles X feared the Trønders would rise against their Swedish occupiers, and thought it wise to keep a large part of the men away. Only about one third of the men ever returned to their homes; some of them were forced to settle in the then Swedish Duchy of Estonia, as the Swedes thought it would be easier to rule the Trønders there, utilising the ancient maxim of divide and rule.
In the fall of 1718, during the Great Northern War, General Carl Gustaf Armfeldt was ordered by king Charles XII of Sweden to lead a Swedish army of 10,000 men into Trøndelag and take Trondheim. Because of his poor supply lines back to Sweden, Armfeldt's army had to live off the land, causing great suffering to the people of the region. Armfeldt's campaign failed: the defenders of Trondheim succeeded in repelling his siege. After Charles XII was killed in the siege of Fredriksten in Norway's southeast, Armfeldt was ordered back into Sweden. During the ensuing retreat, his 6,000 surviving threadbare and starving Caroleans were caught in a fierce blizzard. Thousands of Caroleans froze to death in the Norwegian mountains, and hundreds more were crippled for life.

Government

The county is governed by the Trøndelag County Municipality. The town of Steinkjer is the seat of the county governor and county administration. Both the county governor and Trøndelag County Municipality, however, also have offices in Trondheim.
The county oversees the 41 upper secondary schools, including nine private schools. Six of the schools have more than 1000 students: four in Trondheim plus the Steinkjer Upper Secondary School and the Ole Vig Upper Secondary School in Stjørdalshalsen. The county has ten Folk high schools, with an eleventh folk high school being possibly being opened in Røros, with a possible start in 2019.

Districts

The county is often sub-divided into several geographical regions:
There are nine towns/cities in Trøndelag, plus the "mining town" of Røros.
There are 38 municipalities in Trøndelag.
Municipal
Number		NameAdm. CentreLocation in
the county		EstablishedOld Municipal No.
Former County
5001 TrondheimTrondheim1 Jan 18385001 Trondheim
5030 Klæbu		Trøndelag
5006 SteinkjerSteinkjer23 Jan 18585006 Steinkjer
5039 Verran		Trøndelag
5007 NamsosNamsos1 Jan 18465005 Namsos
5040 Namdalseid
5048 Fosnes		Trøndelag
5014 FrøyaSistranda1 Jan 19641620 FrøyaSør-Trøndelag
5020 OsenSteinsdalen1 June 18921633 OsenSør-Trøndelag
5021 OppdalOppdal1 Jan 18381634 OppdalSør-Trøndelag
5022 RennebuBerkåk1 Jan 18391635 RennebuSør-Trøndelag
5025 RørosRøros1 Jan 18381640 RørosSør-Trøndelag
5026 HoltålenRenbygda1 Jan 18381644 HoltålenSør-Trøndelag
5027 Midtre GauldalStøren1 Jan 19641648 Midtre GauldalSør-Trøndelag
5028 MelhusMelhus1 Jan 18381653 MelhusSør-Trøndelag
5029 SkaunBørsa1 Jan 18901657 SkaunSør-Trøndelag
5031 MalvikHommelvik1 Jan 18911663 MalvikSør-Trøndelag
5032 SelbuMebonden1 Jan 18381664 SelbuSør-Trøndelag
5033 TydalÅs1 Jan 19011665 TydalSør-Trøndelag
5034 MeråkerMidtbygda1 Jan 18741711 MeråkerNord-Trøndelag
5035 StjørdalStjørdalshalsen1 Jan 19021714 StjørdalNord-Trøndelag
5036 FrostaFrosta1 Jan 18381717 FrostaNord-Trøndelag
5037 LevangerLevanger1 Jan 18381719 LevangerNord-Trøndelag
5038 VerdalVerdalsøra1 Jan 18381721 VerdalNord-Trøndelag
5041 SnåsaSnåsa1 Jan 18381736 SnåsaNord-Trøndelag
5042 LierneSandvika1 Jan 19641738 LierneNord-Trøndelag
5043 RøyrvikRøyrvik1 July 19231739 RøyrvikNord-Trøndelag
5044 NamsskoganNamsskogan1 July 19231740 NamsskoganNord-Trøndelag
5045 GrongMedjå1 Jan 18381742 GrongNord-Trøndelag
5046 HøylandetHøylandet1 Jan 19011743 HøylandetNord-Trøndelag
5047 OverhallaRanemsletta1 Jan 18381744 OverhallaNord-Trøndelag
5049 FlatangerLauvsnes1 Jan 18711749 FlatangerNord-Trøndelag
5052 LekaLeknes1 Oct 18601755 LekaNord-Trøndelag
5053 InderøyStraumen1 Jan 18381756 InderøyNord-Trøndelag
5054 Indre FosenÅrnset1 Jan 20181624 RissaSør-Trøndelag
5054 Indre FosenÅrnset1 Jan 20181718 LeksvikNord-Trøndelag
5055 HeimKyrksæterøra1 Jan 20201571 HalsaMøre og Romsdal
5055 HeimKyrksæterøra1 Jan 20205011 Hemne
5012 Snillfjord 		Trøndelag
5056 HitraFillan1 Jan 18385013 Hitra
5012 Snillfjord 		Trøndelag
5057 ØrlandBotngård1 Jan 18385015 Ørland
5017 Bjugn		Trøndelag
5058 ÅfjordÅrnes1 Jan 18385018 Åfjord
5019 Roan		Trøndelag
5059 OrklandOrkanger1 Jan 20205012 Snillfjord
5016 Agdenes
5023 Meldal
5024 Orkdal		Trøndelag
5060 NærøysundKolvereid
and Rørvik		1 Jan 20205050 Vikna
5051 Nærøy		Trøndelag
5061 RindalRindal1 Jan 18581567 Rindal''Møre og Romsdal

Culture

Arts

The region's official theatre is the Trøndelag Teater in Trondheim. At Stiklestad in Verdal, the historical play called The Saint Olav Drama has been played each year since 1954. It depicts the last days of Saint Olaf.
Jazz on a very high level is frequently heard in Trondheim, due to the high-level jazz education in Trondheim. Trondheim is also the national centre of rock music; the popular music museum Rockheim opened there in 2010. Trøndelag is also known for its local variety of rock music, often performed in local dialect, called "trønderrock".

Food and drink

The region is popularly known for its moonshine homebrew, called karsk. Although officially prohibited, the art of producing as pure home-made spirits as possible still has a strong following in parts of Trøndelag. Traditionally served mixed with coffee, local variations apply. In southern regions, people tend to use normal filter coffee, while in the north they choose to serve karsk with as weak coffee as possible.
The "official dish" of the region is sodd which is made from sheep or beef meat and meatballs in boiled stock. The Norwegian Grey Troender sheep is an endangered breed of domesticated sheep that originated from Trøndelag in the late 19th century. There are currently approximately 50 individual animals remaining and efforts are being made to revive the breed.