Gudbrandsdalen ( or ; ) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland county). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending toward the Romsdalen valley. The river Gudbrandsdalslågen (Lågen) flows through the valley, starting from the lake Lesjaskogsvatnet and ending at the lake Mjøsa. The Otta river which flows through Otta valley is a major tributary to the main river Lågen. The valleys of the tributary rivers such as Otta and Gausa (Gausdal) are usually regarded as part of Gudbrandsdalen. The total area of the valley is calculated from the areas of the related municipalities. Gudbrandsdalen is the main valley in a web of smaller valleys. On the western (right hand) side there are long adjacent valleys: Ottadalen stretches from Otta village, Gausdal some from Lillehammer and Heidal some from Sjoa. The Gudbrandsdalen district covers about 60% of the former Oppland county. Ibsen travelled through the valley in 1862 and collected local stories, legends and poems. Ibsen also made drawings from his trip, including "Elstad in Gudbrandsdalen". Dale-Gudbrand settled in Hundorp in the present-day Sør-Fron Municipality. At the time of Halfdan the Black there was a "chief Gudbrand north in Gubrandsdalen" (Gudbrand herse nord i Dalom). Later Eric Bloodaxe had an opponent called Dale-Gudbrand. According to the sage Olaf II of Norway met one Dale-Gudbrand, supposedly the last Dale-Gudbrand, in 1021. Historians believe there was a regional centre at Hundorp during the Viking era and that the name Gudbrand was used for many generations by the ruling family. Burial mounds (tumuli) at Hundorp suggest that powerful men are buried there. The valley sits in the rain shadow of the mountains west (including Jotunheimen), north, and east of the valley. Lågen rose up to above its normal level and covered most of the valley floor. A number of farmers abandoned their damaged farms and settled in Målselv, Troms county. The second largest flood occurred in the summer of 1995 and again the valley floor was largely covered by water. After Storofsen the valley floor upstream from Sel Church changed into bogs and shallow lakes because stone and gravel changed the flow of Lågen. From around 1910 drainage efforts left some of dry farmland on what is still known as the Sel bogs. The toxic cicuta virosa thrived on those bogs before they were drained and are known in Norwegian as selsnepe (literally Sel turnip). The valley floor in Lesja Municipality (between Dombås and Lora) were originally covered by a shallow lake. Drainage efforts from 1860 abolished the lake and left some of farmland. The valley is one of several valleys of southern Norway that existed already as part of the ancient Paleic relief but had at the time gentler slopes. Gudbrandsdalen formed and developed originally as a valley of fluvial origin. Only millions of year later was the valley re-shaped by glaciers during the Quaternary period.

History

The valley was shaped by the recent ice age and rivers from the present glacial areas in Jotunheimen and Dovre. Bones and teeth from mammoths and musk oxen, living in the area at that time, are found in the valley. Several traces of hunters from the Stone Age are found in the valley (and in the mountain areas around). There is a rock carving of moose in the northern part of Lillehammer Municipality. Gudbrandsdalen has always hosted the main road between Trondheim and the central eastern lowlands. In Old Norse known as þjóðvegr (tjodvei), "people's road" or "everybody's road".

Lillehammer was the site of the Lillehammer affair in 1973, wherein operatives of the Israeli Mossad shot and killed a Moroccan waiter they mistakenly thought was Ali Hassan Salameh, who was involved in the Munich Massacre.

The 1994 Winter Olympics were celebrated at Lillehammer.

The 2016 Youth Olympics were celebrated at Lillehammer.

Urban areas

  • Lillehammer
  • Valebru
  • Otta

Mountain areas close to the valley

  • Jotunheimen
  • Rondane
  • Dovrefjell
  • Reinheimen/Tafjordfjella
  • Langsua

See also

  • Gudbrandsdalsost
  • Gudbrandsdalsbunad
  • Dølahest (Dole Gudbrandsdal)
  • Dølafe

References

  • Information about the Gudbrand Valley