View source for Agder

{{Short description|County in Southern Norway}}
{{Distinguish|Southern Norway}}
{{for|the small town in Minnesota|Agder Township, Minnesota}}
{{Infobox kommune
|name                   = Agder
|fylke                  = yes
|former                 = 
|native_name            = 
|native_name_lang       = 
|other_name             = 
|official_name          = 
|image_skyline          = 
|image_caption          = 
|map                    = none
|idnumber               = 42
|county                 = Agder
|district               = Southern Norway
|capital                = [[Kristiansand]]
|established            = 1 Jan 2020
|preceded               = [[Aust-Agder]] and<br />[[Vest-Agder]] counties
|disestablished         = 
|succeeded              = 
|demonym                = Egde or Egd
|language               = Neutral
|coatofarms             = 
|flag                   = 
|webpage                = agderfk.no
|county_mayor           = [[Arne Thomassen]]
|county_mayor_party     = [[Conservative Party (Norway)|H]]
|county_mayor_as_of     = 2019
|governor               = [[Gina Lund]]
|governor_as_of         = 2022
|governor_party         = [[Labour Party (Norway)|Ap]]
|area_rank              = 8
|area_total_km2         = 16433.67
|area_land_km2          = 14980.95
|area_water_km2         = 1452.72
|area_water_percent     = 8.8
|population_as_of       = 2021
|population_rank        = 8
|population_total       = 308843
|population_density_km2 = 20.6
|population_increase    = 9.3
|income_per_capita      = 
|income_year            = 
|GDP                    = 
|GDP_year               = 
|GDP_rank               = 
|GDP_rank_percent       = 
|coordinates            = {{coord|58|46|46.53|N|7|40|6.45|E|type:adm1st_region:NO|display=inline,title}}
}}

'''Agder''' is a [[counties of Norway|county]] ({{Lang|no|fylke}}) and [[districts of Norway|traditional region]] in the southern part of [[Norway]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kartverket.no/kunnskap/Fakta-om-Norge/Arealstatistikk/Arealstatistikk-Norge/|title=Arealstatistikk for Norge|date=2013-03-08|website=Kartverket|language=nb|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> and is coextensive with the [[Southern Norway]] region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old [[Vest-Agder]] and [[Aust-Agder]] counties were merged.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vg.no/i/zoEB1|title=Dette er Norges nye regioner|website=www.vg.no|date=21 February 2017 }}</ref> Since the early 1900s, the term [[Southern Norway|Sørlandet]] ("south country, south land, southland") has been commonly used for this region, sometimes with the inclusion of neighbouring [[Rogaland]]. Before that time, the area was considered a part of [[Western Norway]].<ref name="snl">{{cite web |author=Store norske leksikon |author-link=Store norske leksikon |title=Agder |url=https://snl.no/Agder |access-date=2016-12-31 |language=no}}</ref>

The area was a medieval [[Petty kingdoms of Norway|petty kingdom]], and after Norway's unification became known as ''Egdafylki'' and later ''Agdesiden'', a county within the kingdom of Norway. The name Agder was not used after 1662, when the area was split into smaller governmental units called Nedenæs, Råbyggelaget, Lister, and Mandal. The name was resurrected in 1919 when two counties of Norway that roughly corresponded to the old Agdesiden county were renamed [[Aust-Agder]] (East Agder) and [[Vest-Agder]] (West Agder). Even before the two counties joined in 2020, they cooperated in many ways; the [[University of Agder]] had sites in both Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder, as did many other institutions, such as the [[Diocese of Agder og Telemark]], the [[Agder Court of Appeal]], and the [[Agder Police District]].

==Name==
The origin of the name ''Agder'' is uncertain. The [[Old Norse]] form of the name is ''Agðir'' or ''Egðafylki'', and may derive from Old Norse ''ǫgð'' or Indo-European root ''*ak-'', 'to be sharp', suggesting 'the land that juts out (into the sea)'. This same root may also appear in place names like ''[[Agdenes Municipality|Agdenes]]'', ''Aga'' (in [[Bømlo]]) and ''Agdestein'' (in [[Stord]]). Another interpretation links it to Old Norse ''agi'', meaning 'rough seas', which would make Agder 'the land by the turbulent sea'.<ref name="snl" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=1997 |editor-last=Sandnes |editor-first=Jørn |editor2-last=Stemshaug |editor2-first=Ola |title=Agder |url=https://www.norskstadnamnleksikon.no/ |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Norsk stadnamnleksikon |publisher=Det Norske Samlaget}}</ref>

The Old Norse term for the inhabitants of the area was ''Egðir''. The ''Egðir'' are believed to be the same etymologically as the ''Augandzi'' people mentioned in the ''[[Getica (Jordanes)|Getica]]'' of [[Jordanes]], who wrote of [[Scandza]] (Scandinavia) in the 6th century.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://ra.brage.unit.no/ra-xmlui/handle/11250/2723709 |title=Kulturhistoriske landskap av nasjonal interesse på Agder. Rapport |date=2021 |publisher=Riksantikvaren |page=5}}</ref> If Jordanes's ''Scandza'' is a palatalized form of ''*Scandia'', then ''Augandzi'' is likely a palatalized form of ''*Augandii'', residents of ''*Augandia''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freya.theladyofthelabyrinth.com/?page_id=571|title=Augandzi (The Tribe and Kingdom of Agder, Norway)|access-date=2016-12-31|first=Freyia|last=Völundarhúsins}}</ref>

== Municipalities ==
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.

{| class="sortable wikitable"
! Number!! Municipal<br />number !!class=unsortable|Arms!! Name !! Establishment!!Former municipal number<br /><small>(pre-2020 mergers)</small> !! Former county
|-
|1||4201||[[File:Risør komm.svg|35px]]||[[Risør]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0901 Risør''|| rowspan="3" |[[Aust-Agder]]
|-
|2||4202||[[File:Grimstad komm.svg|35px]]||[[Grimstad]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0904 Grimstad''
|-
|3||4203||[[File:Arendal komm.svg|35px]]||[[Arendal]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0906 Arendal''
|-
|4||4204||[[File:Kristiansand komm.svg|35px]]||[[Kristiansand]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''1001 Kristiansand<br />1017 Songdalen<br />1018 Søgne''|| rowspan="4" |''[[Vest-Agder]]''
|-
|5||4205||[[File:Lindesnes komm (2020).svg|35px]]||[[Lindesnes]]||{{start date|1964|01|01|df=yes}}||''1002 Mandal<br />1021 Marnardal<br />1029 Lindesnes''
|-
|6||4206||[[File:Farsund komm.svg|35px]]||[[Farsund]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''1003 Farsund''
|-
|7||4207||[[File:Flekkefjord komm.svg|35px]]||[[Flekkefjord]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''1004 Flekkefjord''
|----
|8||4211||[[File:Gjerstad komm.svg|35px]]||[[Gjerstad]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0911 Gjerstad''|| rowspan="12" |''[[Aust-Agder]]''
|-
|9||4212||[[File:Vegårshei komm.svg|35px]]||[[Vegårshei]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0912 Vegårshei''
|-
|10||4213||[[File:Tvedestrand komm.svg|35px]]||[[Tvedestrand]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0914 Tvedestrand''
|-
|11||4214||[[File:Froland komm.svg|35px]]||[[Froland]]||{{start date|1850|01|01|df=yes}}||''0919 Froland''
|-
|12||4215||[[File:Lillesand komm.svg|35px]]||[[Lillesand]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0926 Lillesand''
|-
|13||4216||[[File:Birkenes komm.svg|35px]]||[[Birkenes]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0928 Birkenes''
|-
|14||4217||[[File:Åmli komm.svg|35px]]||[[Åmli]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0929 Åmli''
|-
|15||4218||[[File:Iveland komm.svg|35px]]||[[Iveland]]||{{start date|1886|01|01|df=yes}}||''0935 Iveland''
|-
|16||4219||[[File:Evje og Hornnes komm.svg|35px]]||[[Evje og Hornnes]]||{{start date|1960|01|01|df=yes}}||''0937 Evje og Hornnes''
|-
|17||4220||[[File:Bygland komm.svg|35px]]||[[Bygland]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0938 Bygland''
|-
|18||4221||[[File:Valle komm.svg|35px]]||[[Valle, Norway|Valle]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''0940 Valle''
|-
|19||4222||[[File:Bykle komm.svg|35px]]||[[Bykle]]||{{start date|1902|01|01|df=yes}}||''0941 Bykle''
|-
|20||4223||[[File:Vennesla komm.svg|35px]]||[[Vennesla]]||{{start date|1864|01|01|df=yes}}||''1014 Vennesla''||rowspan="6" |''[[Vest-Agder]]''
|-
|21||4224||[[File:Åseral komm.svg|35px]]||[[Åseral]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''1026 Åseral''
|-
|22||4225||[[File:Lyngdal komm.svg|35px]]||[[Lyngdal]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''1027 Audnedal<br />1032 Lyngdal''
|-
|23||4226||[[File:Hægebostad komm.svg|35px]]||[[Hægebostad]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''1034 Hægebostad''
|-
|24||4227||[[File:Kvinesdal komm.svg|35px]]||[[Kvinesdal]]||{{start date|1838|01|01|df=yes}}||''1037 Kvinesdal''
|-
|25||4228||[[File:Sirdal komm.svg|35px]]||[[Sirdal]]||{{start date|1849|01|01|df=yes}}||''1046 Sirdal''
|}

==History==
[[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 Haraldsdottir of Agder|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
* [[Bjæring|King Bjæring]]

;;Monarchs of Agder (790&ndash;987)
* [[Harald Granraude]], 7??&ndash;815, father of Åsa
* [[Queen Åsa|Åsa]], between 815 and 834–838, mother of Halfdan the Black
* [[Halfdan the Black]], father of [[Harald I of Norway|Harald Fairhair]], from 838
* [[Kjotve the Rich]], late 9th century
* [[Harald Grenske|Harald Gudrødsson Grenske]], 976&ndash;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 (book)|Germania]]'' Chapter 44 described the [[Swedes (Germanic tribe)|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 ({{Lang|nb|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.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Metropolitan areas of Southern Norway}}
{{Counties of Norway|current}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Agder| ]]
[[Category:Counties of Norway]]
[[Category:Petty kingdoms of Norway]]
[[Category:2020 establishments in Norway]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 2020]]