Ringerike (traditional district)

Ringerike
Ringerike
District
	View of Tyrifjorden, a lake in southern Ringerike.
Country	Norway
County	Buskerud
Region	Austlandet
Adm. Center	Hønefoss
Area
• Total	3,801 km2 (1,468 sq mi)
Population (2015)
• Total	55,883
• Density	15/km2 (38/sq mi)
Demonym	Ringeriking

Ringerike is a traditional district in Norway, commonly consisting of the municipalities Hole and Ringerike in Buskerud county. In older times, Ringerike had a larger range which went westward to the municipalities Krødsherad, Modum, and Sigdal, also in Buskerud.

Ringerike has a rich history that is connected with one of the most notable kings in the history of Norway, the father of King Harald Fairhair Halfdan the Black, who subdued Gandalf Alfgeirsson, King of Alfheim and half of Vingulmork, and the Dagling clan. Gandalf was possibly the last king of Ringerike, whose name is given to the eponymous King Hring, son of Raum the Old (cf. Romerike), son of Nór (the eponymous ancestor of Norwegians), according to the Sagas of the ancient Northernlands, better known as the Orkneyinga saga.^[1] It is possible that this, as the name suggests, was the legendary heartland of the House of Sigurd Hring and Ivar the Wide-Fathoming. There are also many archaeological remains in the area, dating to the medieval period and earlier.

^ "Hversu Noregr byggðist – heimskringla.no" [How Norway was built – Heimskringla. no]. heimskringla.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 4 November 2018.

[1] "Hversu Noregr byggðist – heimskringla.no" [How Norway was built – Heimskringla. no]. heimskringla.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 4 November 2018.

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