Rødøy Explained

Rødøy
Former Name:Rødø herred
Idnumber:1836
County:Nordland
District:Helgeland
Capital:Vågaholmen
Established:1 Jan 1838
Demonym:Rødøyfjerding
Language:Neutral
Coatofarms:Rødøy komm.svg
Webpage:www.rodoy.kommune.no
Mayor:Inger Dagmar Monsen
Mayor Party:Ap
Mayor As Of:2019
Area Rank:162
Area Total Km2:711.28
Area Land Km2:685.82
Area Water Km2:25.46
Area Water Percent:3.6
Population As Of:2023
Population Rank:322
Population Total:1139
Population Density Km2:1.7
Population Increase:-13.1
Coordinates:66.5933°N 13.3594°W
Utm Zone:33W
Utm Northing:7387009
Utm Easting:0427291
Geo Cat:adm2nd

Rødøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vågaholmen. Other villages include Gjerøy, Jektvika, Kilboghamn, Melfjordbotn, Oldervika, Sørfjorden, and Tjong. The municipality consists of many islands to the west of Norway's second biggest glacier, Svartisen.

The 711km2 municipality is the 162nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Rødøy is the 322nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,139. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 13.1% over the previous 10-year period.[1] [2]

General information

The municipality of Rødøy was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1884, the northern district of Rødøy was separated to form the new municipality of Meløy. This division left Rødøy with 1,945 residents. The borders of the municipality have not changed since that time.[3]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the island of Rødøya (Norse, Old: Rauðøy) since the first Rødøy Church was built there. The first element is which means "red" (probably referring to the color of the rocks of the island). The last element is which means "island".[4] Historically, the name of the municiaplity was spelled Rødø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Rødøy.[5]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 12 February 1988. The official blazon is "Argent, a lion couchant gules" (Norwegian: I sølv en liggende rød løve). This means the arms have a field (background) that has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is red-colored lion that is laying down with its head up and its tail dangling down. The arms are somewhat canting because the municipal name means "Red Island", so the color red was chosen for the lion. The most striking formation on the island is a large, rocky mountain, which has a striking resemblance to a lion. The mountain's name is Rødøyløva, meaning "the Lion of Red Island", which is why this was chosen for the municipal arms. The silver background symbolizes the sea. The arms were designed by Olga Grimsmo Nilsen, former teacher in a local school.[6] [7] [8] [9]

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (Norwegian: sokn) within the municipality of Rødøy. It is part of the Nord-Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

Churches in Rødøy!Parish (Norwegian: sokn)!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
RødøyRødøy ChurchRødøya1885
Rødøy indreSørfjorden ChurchSørfjorden1916
Tjongsfjorden ChurchTjong1962

Geography

The eastern part of Rødøy is located on the mainland, just west of the Saltfjellet mountain range. The rest of the municipality consists of islands to the west including Gjerdøya, Storselsøya, Myken, Nesøya, Rangsundøya, Renga, and Rødøya. The westernmost part of the municipality is the Myken islands in the Vestfjorden, where the Myken Lighthouse is located.

The Tjongsfjorden is located in the northern part of the mainland of Rødøy, just north of the mountain Blokktinden. The Melfjorden is located in the southern part of the mainland, flowing out of the Saltfjellet–Svartisen National Park.

Climate

The Norwegian Meteorological Institute has a weather station near the Myken Lighthouse on an island west in the Norwegian Sea. Myken is situated 32 km from the mainland, and 25 km north of the Arctic Circle. This is one of the most oceanic stations in Northern Norway. The current station has recording since 1992, and an earlier station at same location was in operation 1920–1991. The all-time high temperature is recorded July 1972; the all-time low is recorded in February 1966. The driest month on record is September 2015 with 0.0 mm precipitation, and the wettest is October 1934 with 227 mm. The average date for first overnight freeze (below) in autumn is November 10 (1981-2010 average) at Myken.[10]

Government

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.[11] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Helgeland District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Norwegian: Kommunestyre) of Rødøy is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Rødøy:[12]

Notable people

Farms of Rødøy

This page lists all the farm names in Rødøy judicial district, in Nordland, Norway, as they are listed in O. Rygh's series "Norske Gaardnavne" ("Norwegian Farm Names"), the Nordland volume of which was published in 1905.
A digital version of that volume

The farm numbers are used in some census records, and numbers that are near each other indicate that those farms are geographically proximate. Handwritten Norwegian sources, particularly those prior to 1800, may use variants on these names. For recorded variants before 1723, see the digital version of O. Rygh.

Farm names were often used as part of Norwegian names, in addition to the person's given name and patronymic or inherited surname. Some families retained the farm name, or toponymic, as a surname when they emigrated, so in those cases tracing a surname may tell you specifically where in Norway the family was from. This tradition began to change in the mid to late 19th century, and inherited surnames were codified into law in 1923.

Maps of the farms of Rødøy

Note that each map has a maximum number of listings it can display, so the map has been divided into parts consistent with the enumeration districts (tellingskrets) in the 1920 census. This map will include one farm name per farm number; other farm names or subdivision numbers may exist.
Coordinates are approximate.

Tellingskrets (enumeration districts): 1 Nordnæsøy - Storselsøy (lime); 2 Sundøy - Molvik (black); 3, Stensland - Skivik (blue); 4, Skogan - Aspvik - Vaatvik - Hammerheivik (purple); 5, Hyttan - Nordfjordholm (green); 6, Telnes - Esjeholm (red).

Tellingskrets (enumeration districts): 7, Værnesos - Kvalvik (lime); 8, Blok - Tryggestad (Tjongsfjorden) (black); 9, Vaageng - Tølløk - Svinværø (blue); 10, Myken - Valvær (red); 11, Rødøy - Gjæsø - Flatø (green); 12, Gjærø - Ringen (purple).

List of farm names and numbers

The following table is taken from O. Rygh's work, and has inconsistencies with the 1920 census.

If you can't find an entry when you are searching for a word that starts with AE, Ae, O, A or Aa, it may have been transcribed from one of those letters not used in English. Try looking for it under the Norwegian letter; Æ, Ø, and Å appear at the end of the Norwegian alphabet.

Farm Name Farm Number
Nesøen nordre 1
Selsøen store 2
Sundøen 3
Selsøen lille 4
Rangsund 5
Haakaringen 6
Gjersvik 7
Langnes 8
Steinsland 9
Brensvik 10
Øresvik 11
Tømmerdal 12
Sørfjorden 13
Vasvik 14
Gjervalen 15
Kvalvik 16
Skeivik 17
Strand 18
Helvik 18, 2
Lines 19
Hellervik 20
Onøen ytre 21
Hytten 22
Sandvik 23
Kilhavn 24
Melfjorden 25
Nordfjordnes 26
Nordfjordholmen 27
Vaatvik 28
Hammerøen 29
Telnes 30
Einvik 31
Sperstad 32
Skjaavik 33
Kolvik 33, 3
Jægtvik 34
Forsdal 35
Aanes 36
Kvitnesvik 37
Mælen 38
Strømsnes 39
Kisten 40
Strømsvik 41
Eidvik 42
Værangen 43
Pladsen 44
Eskeholmen 45
Værnesosen 46
Værnes søndre 47
Rønvik 48
49
Værnes nordre 50
Kvalvik 51
Blok 52
Bjerga 53
Kjetvik 54
Reppen, 1 55
Reppen, 2 56
Breivik 57
Aarnes 58
Tjong, 1 59
Tjong, 2 60
Kilen 61
Æsvik 62
Segelfor 63
Vaagenge 64
Vaage 65
Sleipnes 66
Seines 67
Storsteinøren 68
Svinvær 69
Otervær 70
Myken 71
Valvær 71, 2
Gjesøen 72
Høivaagen 73
Rødøen 74
Flatøen 75
Gjerøen, 1 76
Gjerøen, 2 77
Gjærøhavn 78
Ringen 79

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Statistisk sentralbyrå . Statistics Norway . Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M) . Norwegian.
  2. Web site: Statistisk sentralbyrå . Statistics Norway . 09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M) . Norwegian.
  3. Web site: Jukvam . Dag . 1999 . Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen . . no.
  4. Book: Rygh, Oluf . Norske gaardnavne: Nordlands amt . W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri . 1905 . 16 . Kristiania, Norge . 163 . no . Oluf Rygh.
  5. 1908 . Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1908. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m . . no . Kristiania, Norge . Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri . 24.
  6. Web site: Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen . 2023-02-04 . Heraldry of the World.
  7. Web site: Rødøy, Nordland . 2023-02-04 . Flags of the World.
  8. Web site: 1988-02-12 . Godkjenning av våpen og flagg . 2023-02-04 . Lovdata.no . Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet . no.
  9. Web site: Kommunevåpenet . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000133/http://rodoy.kommune.no/artikkel.aspx?MId1=90&AId=96&back=1&MId2=105 . 2016-03-04 . 2012-02-03 . Rødøy kommune.
  10. Web site: 25 September 2013 . Første frostnatt .
  11. Encyclopedia: kommunestyre . . . 2022-09-20 . Hansen . Tore . Norwegian . Vabo . Signy Irene . 2022-10-14.
  12. News: Marthinsen . Roger . 2019-11-01 . Inger er Rødøys 39. ordfører –⁠ og den første kvinnen på ordførerkontoret . no . Rana No . 2023-02-04.