Jotunheimen

Geobox|Range
name = Jotunheimen
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image_size =
image_caption = View from Galdhøpiggen
country = Norway
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region = Sogn og Fjordane and Oppland
region_type = County
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parent = Scandinavian Mountains
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orogeny = Caledonian orogeny
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highest_name = Galdhøpiggen
highest_elevation = 2469
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Jotunheimen (English: The Home of the Giants) is a mountainous area of roughly 3,500 km²Fact|date=April 2007 in Southern Norway. Jotunheimen is a part of the long Scandinavian Mountains range. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are in Jotunheimen, including the very highest - Galdhøpiggen (2469 m). Jotunheimen straddles the border of the counties Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane.

The Jotunheimen area contains the Jotunheimen National Park, covering 1,151 km² [http://www.dirnat.no/attachment.ap?id=7074] since 1980. The mountain range Hurrungane is inside the national park with the sharpest peaks in Jotunheimen. Adjacent to the national park border is Utladalen Nature Reserve covering the valley Utladalen and Falketind among other mountains.

Jotunheimen is very popular among hikers and climbers, and the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association maintains a number mountain lodges in the area, as well as marked trails between the lodges and to some of the peaks.

The image from Gjende shows a cliff trailing down into the lake. At its base there is a popular guest house called Memurubu. The picture is taken from Gjendesheim, a starting point for hiking into the mountain range. There is a very popular trail along Besseggen that follows the edge of the mountainous range to the right, which it is named after.

The name

Originally there was no common name for this large mountainous area, but in 1820 the geologist B. M. Keilhau proposed the name "Jotunfjeldene" "the mountains of the giants" (inspired by the German name Riesengebirge). This was later changed to "Jotunheimen" by the poet Aasmund Olavsson Vinje in 1862 - and this name/form is directly inspired by the name Jötunheimr in Norse mythology.

References

See also

*Eidsbugarden
*Tourism in Norway
*Jens Esmark

External links

* [http://www.tilltopps.com/index.php?eng=1 Tilltopps - Hiking in Jotunheimen.]
* [http://www.nordpaul.de/jotun-en.html Photos of Jotunheimen]