Romsdal
Romsdal is the name of a
valley and
traditional district in the Norwegian county
Møre og Romsdal. It is located between
Nordmøre and
Sunnmøre districts.
Romsdal's central city is
Molde, which hosts the central administration of the county. The district of Romsdal comprises
Aukra,
Eide,
Fræna,
Gjemnes,
Midsund,
Molde,
Nesset,
Rauma,
Sandøy, and
Vestnes.
Åndalsnes is a town located near the mouth of the river
Rauma in the
municipality of
Rauma. The railroad
Raumabanen comes from
Dombås and terminates at Åndalsnes.
The Romsdal Valley, through which the
Rauma river passes to the
Romsdalfjord, has been described as a worthy rival for
Yosemite. The 1550 meter tall
Romsdalhorn has been compared to the
Matterhorn, while the
Trolltindane peaks, according to legend a bridal procession of trolls turned to stone by the morning light, stands opposite across the Rauma. The North Face of Trollryggen peak (1740 m),
Trollveggen (
Troll Wall), is the tallest vertical
cliff in Europe. Norway's most famous switch-backed road (in a country with many switch-backs) is the
Trollstigen, or troll's path, which leads to the south out of
Åndalsnes to the beautiful
Geirangerfjord.
The Rauma river begins in lake
Lesjaskogsvatnet in the adjacent mountain municipality of
Lesja, which has outlets at both ends. A dam that was constructed by the
Lesja Iron Works in the
1660s to improve transportation obstructed the Rauma and caused the water to flow both west to the Rauma and eastward into the river
Lågen.
In the early
Viking Age, before
Harald Fairhair, Romsdal was a
petty kingdom, perhaps being named after an early king,
Raum the Old.The Laxdæla Saga shows that Raumsdal was the home of Ketill Flatnose. Under extreme pressure from Harald Fairhair (either become a vassal to Harald, or leave), he and his family left Norway and fled West-over-the-sea, to Scotland, then Ireland, where he married off his daughter, Aud, the Deep-Minded, to Olaf, the White, king of Dublin. Aud went eventually to Iceland where she began that country's shift to Christianity. The crosses she had erected to mark her places of prayer are still to be seen in their original locations.
The 12th Century
In 1122, while a guest at Hustad in Romsdal, king
Eystein I was taken ill and died. His body was taken in impressive funeral procession to burial at
Nidaros.
At
Veøy, an island in the middle of the Romsdalfjord which had been in time immemorial a religious place, a church dedicated to St. Peter was constructed directly over an ancient site of heathen sacrifice at the close of the 12th century.
The 17th Century
In 1600 two new trading centers were opened in Romsdal: Romsdal market and Devold near Åndalsnes, and Molde ladestad. The former was an important outlet for the ironworks at
Lesja, providing an outlet for their products as well as a source of supplies. Molde inherited the ancient role formerly held by Veøy as the principal market town for the region.
A
Scottish mercenary force landed here at Isfjorden on their way to Sweden. The incursion was stopped at the
Battle of Kringen.
In the
1658 Treaty of Roskilde the
Trondheim region of Norway was ceded to Sweden, down to the north bank of the Romsdalfjord. The Romsdal farmers defied the Swedish taxes and military conscription, and the Swedish governor was forced to send a full company of soldiers, and 50 cavalry besides, to collect taxes. Following the attack on
Copenhagen and the city's successful defence, and the reconquest by Norwegian forces of
Trondheim, the
Treaty of Copenhagen in
1660 restored that province to Norway. The few months of experience with Swedish taxation and conscription left such a bitter taste that it strengthened Norwegian unity and patriotism, making resistance to Swedish invasions of Norway stronger over the next 80 years.
The 20th Century
After the German
World War II invasion of Norway in April, 1940, British troops landed in Åndalsnes as a part of a pincer movement to take mid-Norwegian city
Trondheim.
*
Adventure Roads in Norway by Erling Welle-Strand, Nortrabooks, 1996. ISBN 8290103719
*
West Norway and its Fjords by Frank Noel Stagg, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1954.
*
The Heart of Norway by Frank Noel Stagg, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1953.
