Agder

The name Agder is older than the Norwegian language. Its meaning is not known. Just as the Norwegian language derives from Old Norse, Agder derives from the Old Norse word Agðir. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Agðir was a petty kingdom inhabited by a people named after it, the Egðir.[5]

Nothing in Old Norse gives any hint as to the word's meaning; it was not produced (from known segments) in Old Norse, which means the name is older still. The Egðir are believed to be the same etymologically as the Augandzi people mentioned in the Getica of Jordanes, who wrote of Scandza (Scandinavia) in the 6th century. If Jordanes's Scandza is a palatalized form of *Scandia, then Augandzi is likely a palatalized form of *Augandii, residents of *Augandia.[6]

A name of that period would have to be closer to Proto-Germanic; in fact, a word of that period does present itself and fits the geographical lore of the times: *agwjō (meaning "island"),[7] which Jordanes and all his predecessors writing of Scandinavia believed it to be. A simple metathesis produces a possibly late form, *augjo-, but this derivation is speculative. There is no other evidence on Auganza, and its connection to Egder is hypothetical too.

On 1 January 1838, the formannskapsdistrikt law went into effect, creating local municipalities all over Norway. The municipalities have changed over time through mergers and divisions as well as numerous boundary adjustments. When Agder county was established on 1 January 2020, it had 25 municipalities.

Number	Municipal number	Arms	Name	Establishment	Former municipal number (pre-2020 mergers)	Former county
1	4201		Risør	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0901 Risør	Aust-Agder
2	4202		Grimstad	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0904 Grimstad
3	4203		Arendal	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0906 Arendal
4	4204		Kristiansand	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	1001 Kristiansand 1017 Songdalen 1018 Søgne	Vest-Agder
5	4205		Lindesnes	1 January 1964 (1964-01-01)	1002 Mandal 1021 Marnardal 1029 Lindesnes
6	4206		Farsund	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	1003 Farsund
7	4207		Flekkefjord	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	1004 Flekkefjord
8	4211		Gjerstad	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0911 Gjerstad	Aust-Agder
9	4212		Vegårshei	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0912 Vegårshei
10	4213		Tvedestrand	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0914 Tvedestrand
11	4214		Froland	1 January 1850 (1850-01-01)	0919 Froland
12	4215		Lillesand	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0926 Lillesand
13	4216		Birkenes	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0928 Birkenes
14	4217		Åmli	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0929 Åmli
15	4218		Iveland	1 January 1886 (1886-01-01)	0935 Iveland
16	4219		Evje og Hornnes	1 January 1960 (1960-01-01)	0937 Evje og Hornnes
17	4220		Bygland	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0938 Bygland
18	4221		Valle	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	0940 Valle
19	4222		Bykle	1 January 1902 (1902-01-01)	0941 Bykle
20	4223		Vennesla	1 January 1864 (1864-01-01)	1014 Vennesla	Vest-Agder
21	4224		Åseral	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	1026 Åseral
22	4225		Lyngdal	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	1027 Audnedal 1032 Lyngdal
23	4226		Hægebostad	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	1034 Hægebostad
24	4227		Kvinesdal	1 January 1838 (1838-01-01)	1037 Kvinesdal
25	4228		Sirdal	1 January 1849 (1849-01-01)	1046 Sirdal

Norway of the Viking Age was divided into petty kingdoms ruled by chiefs who contended for land, maritime supremacy, or political ascendance and sought alliances or control through marriage with other royal families, either voluntary or forced. These circumstances produced the generally turbulent and heroic lives recorded in the Heimskringla.

For example, the Ynglinga saga tells us that Harald Redbeard, chief of Agðir, refused his daughter Åsa to Gudröd Halvdanson, on which event Gudröd invaded Agðir, killed Harald and his son Gyrd, and took Åsa whether she would or no. She bore a son, Halvdan (the Black), and later arranged to have Gudröd assassinated. Among the royal families, these events seem to have been rather ordinary. Her word was the last in the argument, as her grandson, Harald Fairhair, unified Norway.

Kings of Agder

Legendary Kings

• Harald Agderking
• Víkar
• Kissa
• King Bjæring

Monarchs of Agder (790–987)

• Harald Granraude, 7??–815, father of Åsa
• Åsa, between 815 and 834–838, mother of Halfdan the Black
• Halfdan the Black, father of Harald Fairhair, from 838
• Kjotve the Rich, late 9th century
• Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976–987

Prior to the Viking Age is a gap in the region's history for a few hundred years, but in Jordanes we also find regions of the same but earlier forms of names, presumably also petty kingdoms under now unknown chiefs. The previous most credible source, Ptolemy, gives the briefest of sketches, only citing all of Norway as the Chaedini ("country people"). Perhaps the difference between kingdoms was not sufficiently important to cite them individually.

Prior to then the most credible and respected source, Tacitus in Germania Chapter 44 described the Suiones, who were divided into civitates (kingdoms?) along the coast of Scandinavia and were unusual in owning fleets of a special type of ship. These were pointed on both ends and were driven by banks of oars that could be rearranged or shipped for river passage. They did not depend on sail (so Tacitus says) but other than that they do not differ from Viking ships. These civitates went all the way around Scandinavia to the Arctic, or at least to regions of very long days, where they stopped.

It seems clear that in the Roman Iron Age Norway was populated by people of the same identity as Sweden, who were called the Suiones by Latin sources. In settling the coast at some point in prehistory they had been divided into civitates by the terrain. These states took on mainly geographical names or names of individuals or mythological characters. Agder was one of them.

After the unification of Norway by Harold Fairhair and army and allies in the 10th century, all the civitates became provinces (fylker) and after their conversion to Christianity, they became dioceses or parishes. The development of Old Norse into local dialects and the dissimilation of customs due to isolation added an ethnic flavor to the area, which is cherished today.