Fresvik is a village and parish in the municipality of Vik

Vik

Vik is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of Vik is the village of Vikøyri.-General information:...

 in Sogn og Fjordane

Sogn og Fjordane

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....

 county, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It is located on the southern shore of the Sognefjord

Sognefjord

The Sognefjord is the largest fjord in Norway, and the second longest in the world. Located in Sogn og Fjordane county, it stretches inland to the small village of Skjolden...

, about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) south of Leikanger

Leikanger

is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center is the village of Leikanger, which is also the administrative center of Sogn og Fjordane county....

-Hermansverk and about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) east of the municipal center of Vikøyri

Vikøyri

Vikøyri is the administrative center of the municipality of Vik in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located at the mouth of the Vikja river on the south shore of the Sognefjord, about south of the village of Balestrand and about west of Fresvik. Vikøyri is northwest of the Fresvikbreen...

. The population (2001) of Fresvik is approximately 275.

This village provides a starting point for hikes into the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

 of Nærøyfjord

Nærøyfjord

The Nærøyfjord is a fjord in the municipality of Aurland in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. The narrow fjord is a branch of the large Sognefjord, and it is featured on the "Norway in a Nutshell" daytrips for tourists...

 which is 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) south, and also to the Fresvikbreen

Fresvikbreen

Fresvikbreen is a glacier on the south side of the Sognefjord in the municipality of Vik in Sogn og Fjordane, county, Norway. It lies between the Seljedal valley in the west, and the Storedal valley in the east. It is southwest of the village of Fresvik and southeast of the municipal center of...

 glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

 which is 8 kilometres (5 mi) west of the village. Fresvik has been hosting the Fres music festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

 in July annually since 2005.

Name

The parish is named after the old farm Fresvik (Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

: Frøysvík) since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive of the name of the god Freyr

Freyr

Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with farming, weather and, as a phallic fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"...

 and the last element is vík which means "inlet" or "bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

".