Vågå

The prestegjeld of Vaage was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1908, the municipality was divided into three parts. The northeastern part of Vågå (population: 2,287) became Sel Municipality, the southeastern part (population: 1,241) became Hedalen Municipality, and the remaining areas in the west (population: 2,953) remained as Vågå municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal changes across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the Tolstadåsen area of Vågå (population: 35) was transferred to the neighboring Sel Municipality.[5]

Jetta

Jotunheimen mountains

Vågå is bordered on the north by the municipality of Lesja, in the east by Dovre and Sel, in the southeast by Nord-Fron, in the south by Vang and Øystre Slidre, and in the west by Lom.

Vågå municipality lies in a mountainous region just to the east of Norway's Jotunheimen National Park, west of Rondane National Park, and south of the Dovrefjell mountains. The highest peak is the Surtningssue with a height of 2,368 metres (7,769 ft). Vågå includes a mountain road to the top of the1,618-metre (5,308 ft) tall Jetta mountain which provides an unobstructed view of both the Gudbrandsdal valley and the surrounding national parks.[10]

The river Otta begins in Skjåk municipality and flows into Vågåvatn lake. Exiting Vågåvatn at Vågåmo, the river continues its journey through the Ottadalen valley leaving Vågå municipality to meet the Gudbrandsdalslågen river at the town of Otta in the municipality of Sel. Lakes in the region include Flatningen.

Årestue (open-hearth room) from Tolstadskriden, Vågå, Oppland.

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Vågå by country of origin in 2017[13]

Ancestry	Number
Eritrea	34
Lithuania	27
Poland	20
Iraq	14
Thailand	12

Vågå is mentioned in the Heimskringla (English: The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) by Snorri Sturluson. The old Norse saga (Conversion of Dale-Gudbrand) relates that after King Olaf stayed several nights in Lesja, he proceeded south across the uplands to the Ottadal, and the beautiful hamlet lying there on both sides of the Otta river. King Olaf remained there five days, summoning the residents of Vågå, Lom, and Heidal to a meeting (ting). They were advised they must either receive Christianity and give their sons as hostages, or see their habitations burnt. Many submitted to his demands.[14]

Vågå stave church is the second oldest stave church in the country, which was constructed around 1150 and originally dedicated to St. Peter. It was converted to a cruciform church in 1625; the carved portal and wall planks are original. The baptismal font dates from the original church and a Gothic crucifix from the 13th century can be seen there as well.[15]

In 1130, Ivar Gjesling was the earliest-known owner of Sandbu (just north of Vågåmo) in Vågå. He was also King Magnus IV's lendmann for the Opplands. Sigrid Undset's fictional Lady Ragnfrid, wife of Lavrans, was created a Gjesling from Sandbu. Ivar Gjesling, allied himself with the Birchlegs (Birkebeinerne) — who chose Sverre as their king at Øreting in 1177. Sverre granted him the valley of Heidal as a reward.[14]

Farmers from Vågå participated in the successful attack on Scottish mercenary troops journeying to join Swedish forces in 1612. The legends of the Battle of Kringen lives on to this day, including the story of how the peasant girl Prillar-Guri lured the Scots into an ambush by playing of the traditional ram's horn.[14]

Ole Paulssøn Haagenstad (1775–1866) was in 1814 summoned by Christian-Frederick to plan the defense of Gudbrandsdalen in the event of a Swedish attack.[14]

Over 150 houses in the municipality are designated as historic landmarks.

All municipalities in Norway are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[16] The municipality falls under the Vestre Innlandet District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Edvard Storm

Thekla Resvoll, 1891

• Edvard Storm (1749 in Vågå - 1794), a Norwegian poet, songwriter and educator
• Johan Storm Munch (1778 at Vågå – 1832), a Bishop in the Church of Norway; poet, playwright and magazine editor
• Jo Gjende (1794 in Vågå – 1884), an outdoorsman and freethinker, may have been the model for Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt
• Ole Herman Johannes Krag (1837 in Vågå – 1916), a Norwegian officer and firearms designer
• Ivar Kleiven (1854 in Vågå - 1934), a politician, historian, poet and collector of local folklore
• Kristian Prestgard (1866 in Heidal -1946), an American journalist and author, editor of Decorah-Posten
• Kristen Holbø (1869 in Vågå – 1953), a painter of landscapes and illustrator
• Thekla Resvoll (1871 in Vågå – 1948), a Norwegian botanist and educator
• Benjamin Blessum (1877-1954), a Norwegian-American painter and illustrator, parents from Vågå
• Ragnvald Skrede (1904 in Vågå - 1983), an author, journalist, literature critic and poet
• Ivar P. Enge (1922 in Vågå – 2013), a Norwegian radiologist, specializing in interventional radiology
• Arne Brimi (born 1957), a Norwegian chef and food writer; lives and works in Vågå

Vågå has sister city agreements with the following places:[38]

• - Tierps, Uppsala County, Sweden

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vågå.

Look up Vågå in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway (in Norwegian)
• Oppland travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Map of Vågå municipality in Kulturnett.no (in Norwegian)
• Vågå Wavecamp