Melhus

Melhus kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Sør-Trøndelag within Norway
Melhus within Sør-Trøndelag
Coordinates: 63°10′35″N 10°18′13″E / 63.17639°N 10.30361°E / 63.17639; 10.30361Coordinates: 63°10′35″N 10°18′13″E / 63.17639°N 10.30361°E / 63.17639; 10.30361
Country	Norway
County	Sør-Trøndelag
District	Gauldal
Administrative centre	Melhus
Government
- Mayor (2003)	Erling Bøhle (Ap)
Area
- Total	694.66 km2 (268.2 sq mi)
- Land	653.76 km2 (252.4 sq mi)
- Water	40.90 km2 (15.8 sq mi)
Area rank	160 in Norway
Population (2010)
- Total	14,841
- Rank	74 in Norway
- Density	22.7/km2 (58.8/sq mi)
- Change (10 years)	12.7 %
Demonym	Melhusbygg[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1653
Official language form	Neutral
Website	melhus.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Melhus is a village and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Melhus. Other villages include Gimse, Gåsbakken, Hovin, Korsvegen, Kvål, Ler, and Lundamo.

Agriculture is important in Melhus, and the extensive lowland areas in the almost flat valley surrounding the Gaula River are dominated by grain fields. Many inhabitants work in the city of Trondheim, a 20 minute drive north from Melhus.

The village of Melhus is located on the shores of the Gaula River in the north part of the municipality. The 3.41-square-kilometre (1.32 sq mi) village has a population (2009) of 5,097. The population density is 1,495 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,870 /sq mi).^[2] The 100+ year old Melhus Church is located on the south side of the village.

General information

Melhus was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1865, the western district of Høilandet (population: 1,818) was separated from Melhus to form a separate municipality. Then on 1880, the eastern district of Flå (population: 614) was separated to form its own municipality. On 1 January 1964, Melhus (population: 3,978) was merged together with Hølonda (population: 1,428), Flå (population: 843), Horg (population: 2,560), and the small Langørgen farm area in Buvik (population: 11) to form a new, larger municipality of Melhus.^[3]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Melhus farm (Old Norse: Meðalhúsar), since the first church was built there. The first element is meðal which means "middle" and the last element is the plural form of hús which means "house". The farm is one part of a greater and older farm, which had the name Óðinssalr which means "the salr (mead hall) of Odin".^[4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 8 November 1979. The arms show a gold-colored archer with a red background. The arms were chosen to symbolize Einar Tambarskjelve, who was a famous chief and archer from Melhus in the 11th century. He is mentioned as an archer for King Olav Tryggvason in the Battle of Svolder.^[5]

Churches

The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Melhus. It is part of the Deanery (prosti) of Gauldal and the Diocese of Nidaros.

Churches in Melhus

Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Year Built	Location of the Church
Flå	Flå Church	1794	Ler
Horg	Horg Church	1892	Lundamo
Hølonda	Hølonda Church	1848	Hølonda
Melhus	Melhus Church	1892	Melhus

History

Melhus was the site of many important events during the Viking Era. It was the site of the farm Rimul in Melhus at which Jarl Haakon was killed by his slave, Tormod Kark. Jarlshola is the location in Melhus thought to have been the hiding place of Jarl Haakon and Tormod Kark on their last night before the infamous murder at Rimul.

Geography

View of the Gaulosen fjord

The 695-square-kilometre (268 sq mi) municipality of Melhus includes the valley of the Gaula River as it flows northwards towards its mouth at the Gaulosen, an arm of the Trondheimsfjord. The lake Svorksjøen lies on the western border with Orkdal and Meldal. The lakes Benna and Ånøya lie in the central part of the municipality, and the lake Samsjøen lies on the southeastern border with Midtre Gauldal. The mountains of Rensfjellet and Vassfjellet lie on the eastern border with Selbu and Klæbu respectively.

Transportation

The European route E6 highway runs north and south through the municipality, following the Gaula River. There is also a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) long stretch of European route E39 passes east and west in the northern part of Melhus between Buvika and Leinstrand.

The Dovrebanen railway line also follows the river through Melhus. The following stations are located along the railway line in Melhus: Melhus Station, Kvål Station, Ler Station, Lundamo Station, and Hovin Station.

Gallery

• 

  Bridge crossing Gaula River

• 

  Gimse in Melhus

• 

  Gaustad Lake

• 

  Chapel at Vassfjellet on the border with Klæbu

• 

  View of Øysand in northern Melhus

Newspapers

• Trønderbladet: Largest newspaper in Melhus.
• Gaula: Newspaper published in Melhus which also covers the Midtre Gauldal and Byneset

Notable residents

• Einar Thambarskelfir (c. 980 – c. 1050) - Influential nobleman and politician, de facto ruler of Norway
• Johannes Klingenberg Sejersted (1761–1823) - General and head of the General Staff
• Hartvig Nissen (1815–1874) - Philologist and educator
• Walter Scott Dahl (1839–1906) - Government minister and MP for the Liberal Party
• Martin Tranmæl (1879–1967) - Party Secretary and MP for the Norwegian Labour Party, editor of Arbeiderbladet
• Per Borten (1913–2005) - Prime Minister, and MP for the Centre Party
• Odd Bye (1916–2010) - Newspaperman and State Secretary for the Centre Party
• Magnar Estenstad (1924–2004) - Cross-country skier
• Toralf Engan (b. 1939) - World and Olympic champion ski jumper
• Hans Flock (b. 1940) - Supreme Court Justice
• Kjell Helland (b. 1940) - MP for the Norwegian Labour Party
• Magne Thomassen (b. 1941) - Speed skater
• Tor Singsaas (b. 1948) - Bishop of Nidaros
• Oddvar Brå (b. 1951) - World champion cross-country skier
• Torstein Flakne (b. 1960) - Rock musician, member of The Kids and founder of Stage Dolls
• Unni Lehn (b. 1977) - Olympic champion footballer

References

1. ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/. 
2. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå (1 January 2009). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality.". http://www.ssb.no/beftett_en/tab-2009-06-16-01-en.html. 
3. ^ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf. 
4. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1901) (in Norwegian). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Trondhjems amt (14 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 286. http://books.google.com/books?id=AGxBAAAAIAAJ. 
5. ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/m/melhus.htm. Retrieved 26 October 2008. 

External links

• Sør-Trøndelag travel guide from Wikitravel
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Municipal website (Norwegian)
• Melhus Prestegårdslåna (Norwegian)
• Local history of Melhus (Norwegian)