Granvin was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Ulvik (and Eidfjord) used to be annexes to Granvin - but in 1858 Ulvik became the main parish, and Granvin (and Eidfjord) annexes to Ulvik. (And the municipality then changed the name to Ulvik.) Granvin and Eidfjord were separated from Ulvik as municipalities of their own May 1, 1891.^[2]

[edit] Origin of the name

There are several theories for the origin of the name Granvin. One of them claims that it is is named after the farm Granvin (Norse Granvin), since the first church was built there. The first element is gran f 'spruce', the last element is vin f 'meadow, pasture'.^[2] Another possible meaning of the name is gran (Norse: grand) which means large/big or long and the word vin which is old norse for large plain. This is also seen in the name the vikings gave to America when they first arrived there, Vinland (land of large plains). Until 1899 the name was written "Graven" because of the Danish language still used in much of Norway since the union with Denmark.

[edit] Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from 1988. It shows a fiddle (hardingfele). (See also the coat-of-arms of Bø.)

[edit] References

^ Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg (Norwegian)
^ ^a ^b Brekke, Nils Georg; Skaar, Ronny B and Nord, Svein (1993). Kulturhistorisk Vegbok Hordaland. Nord4.

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