Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local Hornindalen valley since that is the location of the municipality. The first element of the name comes from the old Horne farm (Old Norse: Hornyn) since the first Hornindal Church was built there. The name is likely a combination of two old words. The first part is horn which means "horn", likely referring to the shape of a mountain behind the farm. The last part is vin which means "meadow" or "pasture". The last element of the name is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Thus, the name means the "valley of Horne".^[9] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Hornindalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Hornindal, removing the definite form ending -en.^[10]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 7 August 1987 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was dissolved. The official blazon is "Azure, three scythe blades fesswise in pale argent" (Norwegian: På blå grunn tre sølv ljåblad, 1-1-1). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a set of three horizontal scythe blades stacked one over the other. Each scythe blade has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. Historically, farming and blacksmithing were vital industries in Hornindal. At one point, there were as many as 200 blacksmiths in the area. There was also a rich tradition of making handmade scythes and this was honored by its placement on the coat of arms. The arms were designed by Petter Eide. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Hornindal. It is part of the Nordfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Hornindal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four-year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The mayors (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Hornindal:^[30]

Location

Hornindal is located on the northern border of Sogn og Fjordane county. Hornindal is bordered to the west by the municipality of Eid, to the south by Stryn, to the east by Stranda (in Møre og Romsdal county), and to the north by Ørsta and Volda (both in Møre og Romsdal county).

Mountains

• Hornindalsrokken mountain (1,495 metres or 4,905 feet)
• Gulkoppen mountain (1,304 metres or 4,278 feet)
• Middagsfjellet (903 metres or 2,963 feet)

Hornindalsvatnet

The Hornindalsvatnet lake is the deepest lake in Europe at 514 metres (1,686 ft) deep. None of the glacier streams run out into the lake and this has resulted in one of Europe's clearest lakes.^[32]

Anders Svor Museum

Anders Svor was born in 1864 on the Svor Farm in Hornindal. At the age of 21 he left for Denmark where he enrolled at the Copenhagen Academy of Art. He later participated in many art exhibitions in Kristiania, Copenhagen, Paris, and Chicago. The Anders Svor Museum was opened in 1953 and features 450 of his works. His art is characterised by simple, clean lines, and deep authenticity.^[33]