Randsfjorden is 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...

's fourth largest lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 with an area of 138 km² (53.3 sq mi). Its volume is estimated at just over 7 km³ (1.7 cu mi), and its greatest depth is 120 metres (393.7 ft). The lake is 135 metres (442.9 ft) above sea level.
It is located in the county of Oppland

Oppland

is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....

 and borders the municipalities of Gran

Gran, Norway

is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hadeland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Jaren. There is also a village of Gran located within the municipality....

, Jevnaker

Jevnaker

Jevnaker is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Jevnaker with a population of 4,302.The parish of Jævnaker was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...

, Nordre Land

Nordre Land

Nordre Land is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dokka....

, and Søndre Land

Søndre Land

Søndre Land is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hov....

 in the districts of Land

Land, Norway

Land is a traditional district in Oppland, Norway consisting of the municipalities Nordre Land and Søndre Land. Land was a formannskapsdistrikt from 1837, and split into Nordre- and Søndre Land in 1847. By the time of partition Land had a population of 9,199....

 and Hadeland

Hadeland

Hadeland is a traditional district in the south-eastern part of Norway. It is located around the southern part of lake Randsfjorden in Oppland county, and consists of the municipalities of Gran, Jevnaker and Lunner. Hadeland occupies the area north of the hills of Nordmarka close to the Norwegian...

. It is drained by the Randselva river. Although the term fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

 usually describes a saltwater inlet, Randsfjorden is actually a fresh water

Fresh Water

Fresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...

 lake with a narrow shape, approximately aligned on a north-south axis.

The Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic chronicler Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

 recorded that Halfdan the Black

Halfdan the Black

Halfdan the Black was a ninth-century king of Vestfold. He belonged to the House of Yngling and was the father of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway.-Biography:...

, father of the first King of Norway, journeyed over the lake while returning home from a visit to Hadeland. Travelling with a horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

 and sleigh while the lake was frozen, he fell through the ice (which had been weakened by cattle dung after a watering hole

Depression (geology)

A depression in geology is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Depressions may be formed by various mechanisms.Structural or tectonic related:...

 had been dug on the lake) and drowned.

In modern times, many golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

s have been set up on the edge of the lake.
There is a car ferry connection between Horn

Horn, Oppland

Horn is a ferry docking point on the east side of the lake Randsfjorden, in Oppland, Norway....

 on the east side and Tangen

Tangen, Oppland

Tangen is a ferry docking point on the west side of the lake Randsfjorden, in Oppland, Norway....

 on the west, which is Norway's last remaining and regularly operating car ferry connection on an inland lake.

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 just Rönd, derived from the word rönd f 'stripe, edge' (referring to the long and narrow form of the lake). The last element -fjorden (the finite form of fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

) is a later addition - first recorded in 1691.