Eidskog is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vinger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skotterud. Other villages in the municipality include Magnor, Matrand, and Åbogen.

The 640-square-kilometre (250 sq mi) municipality is the 181st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Eidskog is the 155th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 6,032. The municipality's population density is 10 inhabitants per square kilometre (26/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 4.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality was established on 1 January 1864 when the old Vinger Municipality was divided in two: Vinger (population: 6,226) in the north and Eidskog (population: 6,920) in the south. On 1 January 1986, the northern part of the Åbogen area (population: 14) was transferred from Kongsvinger Municipality to Eidskog Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named Eidskog (Old Norse: Eiðaskógr) since it was an old name for the area. The first element is the plural genitive case of eið which means "isthmus" or in this situation, a "path between two lakes". The first element is skógr which means "woods" or "forest". Thus the name means "the woods with the many eiðs". (In historical times, people traveled in small boats on the lakes and the rivers, but they had to drag the boats over the eids.) Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Eidskogen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Eidskog, removing the definite form ending -en.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 12 September 1986. The official blazon is "Argent, a grouse sable regardant crested gules" (Norwegian: I sølv en svart orrhane med hodet vendt bakover). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is a black grouse with a red comb. The design was chosen since this type of bird is a common inhabitant of the many forests in the municipality. Forestry is also one of the main sources of income in the area. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Eidskog. It is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

Churches in Eidskog

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Eidskog	Eidskog Church	Matrand	1665
	Magnor Church	Magnor	1923
Vestmarka	Vestmarka Church	Vestmarka	1883

Geography

The municipality is located in the southeastern part of Innlandet county. It is bordered to the north by the municipality of Kongsvinger (in Innlandet) and in the west by Aurskog-Høland, Nes (both in Akershus and Sør-Odal (in Innlandet). Eidskog also borders Sweden, both to the east and south.

The lakes Digeren, Mangen, and Skjervangen are all located in Eidskog.

History

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Eidskog by country of origin in 2017

Ancestry	Number
Sweden	138
Lithuania	33
Thailand	29
Syria	26
Poland	24
Germany	23
Denmark	21

The name Eidskog is ancient and was used for the southern part of Vinger, the region between today's Kongsvinger in Norway and Arvika in Sweden. The Vinger Royal Road (Norwegian: Eskoleia) historically traveled through Eidskog (and continues today as the Norwegian National Road 2). It was one of the most important traffic arteries between Norway and Sweden. The name Eidskog was already in use during the saga period and became, after the canonization of Saint Olaf and important pilgrim's route from Europe to Nidaros Cathedral. During the 12th century, the Eidskog Church was built. It was a stave church built in Midtskog (which means Norwegian: middle of the woods). The present Eidskog Church is built on the same site (now called Matrand) and this building was constructed in 1665.

The way through Eidskog was also militarily important and many times through history has been the point of Swedish strikes into Hedmark. To defend against these assaults, a number of fortifications were built in the vicinity, including ones at Magnor and Matrand, but the chief fortification was Kongsvinger Fortress (to the north).

The last Swedish attack through Eidskog was in 1814 when Major General Carl Pontus Gahn on July 31 crossed the border and marched against Kongsvinger. His forces were stopped at Lier outside Kongsvinger on 2 August 1814 by troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Andreas Samuel Krebs (1769-1818) and retreated to Eidskog. On 4 August 1814, Krebs followed after to drive Swedish troops off Norwegian territory. The two forces met in the Battle of Matrand which was the bloodiest battle of the war and ended with a Norwegian victory.

Later in 1814, Norway was joined in union with Sweden and the confrontations at the Eidskog border ended.

The Soot Canal, constructed in 1849, has Norway's oldest sluice gates. It was the work of Engebret Soot (1786–1859). It was built to allow timber to be transported (floated) to the Halden sawmills. The canal was 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) long and had 16 locks which extended from Lake Skjervangen at 185 metres (607 ft) above sea level up to Lake Mortsjølungen at 201 metres (659 ft) above sea level.

The route through Eidskog became an important connection between the two countries; this was strengthened with the opening of the Grenseban railway in 1862, which connected Christiania to Stockholm.

Government

Eidskog Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Romerike og Glåmdal District Court and the Eidsivating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Eidskog is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Eidskog:

Attractions

• Soot Canal - the first lock constructed in Norway, used for log floating
• Grenselosmuseet - museum on the route for escape to Sweden during the World War II
• Oppistun Børli - poet Hans Børli's home
• Morokulien - memorial to the long lasting peace with Sweden
• Rønning Treski - last wood ski producer in Norway

Notable people

• Erik Werenskiold (1855 in Eidskog – 1938), a Norwegian painter and illustrator
• Konrad Hirsch (1900 in Eidskog – 1924), a Swedish footballer who played in 1924 Summer Olympics
• Julla Sæthern (1901 in Eidskog – 1981), a Norwegian barrister, feminist, and politician
• Hans Børli (1918 at Eidskog – 1989), a Norwegian poet, writer, and lumberjack
• Torgrim Sollid (born 1942 in Eidskog), a composer and folk and jazz musician
• Ivar Skulstad (born 1953), a politician and Mayor of Eidskog 1999 to 2005
• Kristin Solli Schøien (born 1954), an author and composer who lives in Eidskog
• Max Ivan Lindkjølen (born 1956), a chef and entrepreneur
• Remi Eriksen (born 1967), the Group President and CEO of DNV GL (a classification society)
• Wilhelm Brenna (born 1979), a retired Norwegian ski jumper and junior world champion
• Andreas Ulvo (born 1983), a jazz pianist, organist, keyboardist, and composer