SandefjordSandefjord (ˈsɑ̂nəfjuːr) is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 January 2017, rural municipalities of Andebu and Stokke were merged into Sandefjord as part of a nationwide municipal reform. This merger was the first one to take place during the reform. The city is known for its rich Viking history and the prosperous whaling industry, which made Sandefjord the richest city in Norway.
Oseberg ShipThe Oseberg ship (Norwegian: Osebergskipet) is a well-preserved Viking ship discovered in a large burial mound at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. This ship is commonly acknowledged to be among the finer artifacts to have survived from the Viking Era. The ship and some of its contents are displayed at the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy on the western side of Oslo, Norway.
LarvikLarvik (ˈlɑ̂rviːk) is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality of Larvik has about 48,246 inhabitants. The municipality has a 110km coastline, only shorter than that of neighbouring Sandefjord. The city achieved market town status in 1671. Larvik was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).
TumulusA tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or (in Siberia and Central Asia) kurgans, and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus. Tumuli are often categorised according to their external apparent shape. In this respect, a long barrow is a long tumulus, usually constructed on top of several burials, such as passage graves.
VestfoldVestfold (ˈvɛ̂stfɔɫ) is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered the previous Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration was located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the largest city is Sandefjord. With the exception of the city-county of Oslo, Vestfold was the smallest county in Norway by area.
Old Norse religionOld Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peoples. It was replaced by Christianity and forgotten during the Christianisation of Scandinavia. Scholars reconstruct aspects of North Germanic Religion by historical linguistics, archaeology, toponymy, and records left by North Germanic peoples, such as runic inscriptions in the Younger Futhark, a distinctly North Germanic extension of the runic alphabet.
SkiringssalSkiringssal (Old Norse Skíringssalr) was the name of a Viking Age hall which stood at a site now known as Huseby, about 0.73 miles (1.2 km) south-west of Tjølling, a settlement a little over east of Larvik, in the south of the Norwegian county of Vestfold. By extension the name also referred to the local bygd, or settlement area, and in the 15th century it was probably used synonymously for the ecclesiastical parish of Tjølling. Skiringssal is mentioned in several early medieval sources, including the Ynglinga saga, the Fagrskinna and the Sögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum.
BuskerudBuskerud (ˈbʉ̂skərʉː) is a former, and future, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardangervidda mountain range in the northwest. The county administration was in modern times located in Drammen. Buskerud was merged with Akershus and Østfold into the newly created Viken County on 1 January 2020.
AndebuAndebu is a village in Sandefjord municipality, Vestfold County, and a former municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Andebu. The village is surrounded by forests, mountains, and hills. Its nearest cities are Sandefjord and Tønsberg. The parish of Andebo was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 2017, the municipality became a part of Sandefjord municipality, along with Stokke.
RaetRaet is the largest terminal moraine in Scandinavia. It was formed during the end of the last glacial period, 12,800–11,500 years ago, in one of the latest advances of the glaciers. The moraine system extends from Finland, where it is known as Salpausselkä, through Sweden into Østfold in southeast Norway, across the Oslofjord and around the tip of southern Norway, where Raet National Park is located in Agder, then north to northern Norway and the Kola Peninsula in northwest Russia.
