Namdalen is a traditional district

Districts of Norway

The country Norway is historically divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords,...

 in the central part of 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...

, consisting of the municipalities Namsos

Namsos

is a town and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Other villages in the municipality include Bangsund, Klinga, Ramsvika, Skomsvoll, and Spillum....

, Grong

Grong

is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Medjå. Other villages in the municipality include Bergsmoen, Formofoss, Gartland, and Harran....

, Overhalla

Overhalla

Overhalla is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ranemsletta . Other villages include Melen, Skage, Skogmo, Svalia, and Øysletta.The population is concentrated in the relatively broad...

, Røyrvik

Røyrvik

Røyrvik is a village and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Røyrvik. The area has always had a strong Sami influence....

, Fosnes

Fosnes

Fosnes is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dun on the island of Jøa. Other villages include Salsnes and Nufsfjord.-General information:...

, Nærøy

Nærøy

Nærøy is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. Nærøy is part of the Namdalen region. Norway's smallest town, Kolvereid, is the administration centre of the municipality...

, Høylandet

Høylandet

Høylandet is a village and a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Høylandet. Other villages include Kongsmoen and Vassbotna....

, Namdalseid

Namdalseid

Namdalseid is village and a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Namdalseid. Other villages and farm areas include Sjøåsen, Statland, Tøttdalen, and Sverkmoen.The village of Namdalseid...

, Flatanger

Flatanger

Flatanger is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lauvsnes. Other villages include Jøssund and Vik.-General information:...

, Lierne

Lierne

Lierne is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region, and it is the largest municipality in Trøndelag. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sandvika. Other villages include Inderdal, Sørli, and Tunnsjø senter...

, Leka

Leka, Norway

Leka is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Leknes. Other villages include Sør-Gutvika and Madsøygrenda....

, Namsskogan

Namsskogan

Namsskogan is a village and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. Namsskogan is located in the upper part of the long Namdalen valley region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Namsskogan...

, and Vikna

Vikna

Vikna is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rørvik. Other villages in Vikna include Austafjord, Garstad, and Valøya.-General information:...

, all in Nord-Trøndelag

Nord-Trøndelag

is a county constituting the northern part of Trøndelag in Norway. As of 2010, the county had 131,555 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-least populated county. The largest municipalities are Stjørdal, Steinkjer—the county seat, Levanger, Namsos and Verdal, all with between 21,000 and...

 county. The district has two towns: Kolvereid

Kolvereid

Kolvereid is a town and former municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located within the present-day municipality of Nærøy. The small town of Kolvereid is also the administrative centre of the municipality....

 and Namsos

Namsos

is a town and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Other villages in the municipality include Bangsund, Klinga, Ramsvika, Skomsvoll, and Spillum....

. The whole district covers about 11860 square kilometres (4,579.2 sq mi) and has about 35,000 residents (2009).

The district surrounds the Namdalen valley and the river Namsen

Namsen

Namsen is the biggest river in Nord-Trøndelag county, in the central part of Norway. The long river flows through the municipalities of Røyrvik, Namsskogan, Grong, Overhalla, and Namsos. It traditionally has been used for floating timber down from the forests to the town of Namsos, where the...

, one of the best salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

 rivers in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 (only the Tana

Tana River (Norway)

Tana river , is a long river in Sápmi, in the Norwegian county of in Finnmark and the Lapland of Finland. The Sámi name means "Great River". The main tributaries of Tana are Anarjohka and Karasjohka....

 river in Finnmark

Finnmark

or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

 yields a larger catch of salmon). Agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 and forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

 have always been important in Namdalen. Norway spruce

Norway Spruce

Norway Spruce is a species of spruce native to Europe. It is also commonly referred to as the European Spruce.- Description :...

 is the most prevalent tree species. The grain

GRAIN

GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...

 fields in the lower part of the valley are among the most northern in Norway. Part of the forest in the coastal and lowland part of the valley belong to the Scandinavian coastal conifer forests

Scandinavian coastal conifer forests

The Scandinavian coastal conifer forest ecoregion, a Palearctic ecoregion in the Temperate coniferous forests Biome, is located in along the coast of Norway...

 type, while the upper part of the valley has long and cold winters.

In the early Viking Age

Viking Age

Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...

, before Harald Fairhair, Namdalen was a petty kingdom

Petty kingdom

A petty kingdom is one of a number of small kingdoms, described as minor or "petty" by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it...

. Today, the Namdal District Court

Namdal District Court

Namdal District Court is a district court located in the town of Namsos in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It covers the municipalities of Flatanger, Fosnes, Grong, Høylandet, Leka, Lierne, Namsos, Namsskogan, Nærøy, Overhalla, Røyrvik, and Vikna. It is subordinate to the Frostating Court of...

 covers the same general area. The European route E6

European route E6

European route E 6 is the designation for the main north-south road in Norway, and the west coast of Sweden, running from the southern tip of Sweden, at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the country north to Finnmark. The route ends close to the Norwegian border with Russia...

 highway and the Nordlandsbanen railway line run throughout the valley.

Name

The 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....

 form of the name was Naumudalr. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Nauma (now Namsen

Namsen

Namsen is the biggest river in Nord-Trøndelag county, in the central part of Norway. The long river flows through the municipalities of Røyrvik, Namsskogan, Grong, Overhalla, and Namsos. It traditionally has been used for floating timber down from the forests to the town of Namsos, where the...

) and the last element is dalr which means "valley

Valley

In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

" or "dale". The meaning of the river name is unknown.

Namdalen in Literature

Namdalen is the location of many of the stories of Olav Duun

Olav Duun

Olav Duun was a noteworthy author of Norwegian fiction. He is generally recognized to be one of the more outstanding writers in Norwegian literature. He once lacked only one vote to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature...

, a well-known early twentieth century Norwegian author

Norwegian literature

Norwegian literature is literature composed in Norway or by Norwegian people. The history of Norwegian literature starts with the pagan Eddaic poems and skaldic verse of the 9th and 10th centuries with poets such as Bragi Boddason and Eyvindr Skáldaspillir...

. His most famous works, the hexalogy

Hexalogy

A hexalogy is a compound literary or narrative work that is made up of six distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works, and a tetralogy of four. The word apparently first appeared in English as a borrowing from German, in discussions of August Bungert's Wagnerian opera cycle...

 known as The People of Juvik

The People of Juvik

The People of Juvik is a series of six historical novels by Norwegian author Olav Duun. The books chronicle the lives of the Juvikings, an old Norwegian landowning peasant family living in the Namdal valley...

(Juvikfolket), takes place on the fictional farm of Haaberg, as well as other locations in Namdalen.