Agder

For the small town in Minnesota, see Agder Township, Minnesota.

See also the region of Sørlandet in Norway

Agder fylke
County
Arendal
Coat of arms
Agder within Norway
Country	Norway
County	Agder
Region	Southern Norway
County ID	NO-42
Area
• Total	16,434.12 km2 (6,345.25 sq mi)
Population  (2019)
• Total	306,849
• Density	19/km2 (48/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Website	agderfk.no

Agder is a county (fylke) and historical district of Norway in the southernmost region of Norway.

Before 1 January 2020, the region was divided in two counties, Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south country") has been more commonly used for this region, sometimes with the inclusion of neighbouring Rogaland. Prior to that time, the area was considered a part of Western Norway.

The area was a medieval petty kingdom, and after the unification of Norway, the area became known as Egdafylki and later yet called 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 as Aust-Agder (East Agder) and Vest-Agder (West Agder). Even before joining the two counties in 2020, there was significant cooperation between the two units, such as the University of Agder that had campuses in both Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder, and many other institutions such as the Diocese of Agder og Telemark, the Agder Court of Appeal, and the Agder Police District.

Name

The name Agder is older than the Norwegian language. Its meaning is not known. Just as the Norwegian language derives from Old Norse, Agder derives from the Old Norse word Agðir. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Agðir was a petty kingdom inhabited by a people named after it, the Egðir.

Nothing in Old Norse, however, gives any hint as to the meaning of the word; i.e., it was not produced (from known segments) in Old Norse, which means that the name is older still. The Egðir are believed to be the same etymologically as the Augandzi people mentioned in the Getica of Jordanes, who wrote of Scandza (Scandinavia) in the 6th century. If Jordanes' Scandza is a palatalized form of *Scandia, then Augandzi is likely to be a palatalized form of *Augandii, residents of *Augandia.

A name of that period would have to be closer to Proto-Germanic; in fact, a word of that period does present itself and fits the geographical lore of the times: *agwjō (meaning "island"), which Jordanes and all his predecessors writing of Scandinavia believed it to be. A simple metathesis produces a possibly late form, *augjo-; however, this derivation is speculative. There is no other evidence on Auganza, and its connection to Egder is hypothetical, too.

Municipalities

Agder has a total of 25 municipalities.

No.	Municipality No.	Name	Created	Former Municipality No.	Former County
1	4201	Risør	January 1, 2020	0901 Risør	Aust-Agder
2	4202	Grimstad	January 1, 2020	0904 Grimstad
3	4203	Arendal	January 1, 2020	0906 Arendal
4	4204	Kristiansand	January 1, 2020	1001 Kristiansand 1017 Songdalen 1018 Søgne	Vest-Agder
5	4205	Lindesnes	January 1, 2020	1002 Mandal 1021 Marnardal 1029 Lindesnes
6	4206	Farsund	January 1, 2020	1003 Farsund
7	4207	Flekkefjord	January 1, 2020	1004 Flekkefjord
8	4211	Gjerstad	January 1, 2020	0911 Gjerstad	Aust-Agder
9	4212	Vegårshei	January 1, 2020	0912 Vegårshei
10	4213	Tvedestrand	January 1, 2020	0914 Tvedestrand
11	4214	Froland	January 1, 2020	0919 Froland
12	4215	Lillesand	January 1, 2020	0926 Lillesand
13	4216	Birkenes	January 1, 2020	0928 Birkenes
14	4217	Åmli	January 1, 2020	0929 Åmli
15	4218	Iveland	January 1, 2020	0935 Iveland
16	4219	Evje og Hornnes	January 1, 2020	0937 Evje og Hornnes
17	4220	Bygland	January 1, 2020	0938 Bygland
18	4221	Valle	January 1, 2020	0940 Valle
19	4222	Bykle	January 1, 2020	0941 Bykle
20	4223	Vennesla	January 1, 2020	1014 Vennesla	Vest-Agder
21	4224	Åseral	January 1, 2020	1026 Åseral
22	4225	Lyngdal	January 1, 2020	1027 Audnedal 1032 Lyngdal
23	4226	Hægebostad	January 1, 2020	1034 Hægebostad
24	4227	Kvinesdal	January 1, 2020	1037 Kvinesdal
25	4228	Sirdal	January 1, 2020	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 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), obviously named after his deceased grandfather, 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
• King Bjæring

Monarchs of Agder: 790–987

• Harald Granraude, 7??–815, father of Åsa
• Åsa, between 815 and 834-838, mother of Halfdan the Black
• Halfdan the Black, father of Harald Fairhair, from 838
• Kjotve the Rich, late 9th century
• Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976–987

Prior to the Viking Age is a gap in the history of the region 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 were not sufficiently important to cite them individually.

Prior to then the most credible and respected source, Tacitus in Germania Chapter 44 described the 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 (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.