Talk:Gudbrandsdal

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[edit] Name in English

Before we go too far in changing every link throughout Wikipedia to Gudbrandsdal, rather than Gudbrandsdalen, let's see which makes sense. I did a google advanced search and found the following:

  • Gudbrandsdal
    • English - 15,100 hits
    • Norwegian - 112,100
  • Gudbrandsdalen
    • English - 27,600
    • Norwegian - 277,000

It should also be noted that the use of "Gudbrandsdal" in Norwegian appears to be strictly associated with proper names, e.g, "Nord-Gudbrandsdal Videregående Skole," etc.

There are also grammatical considerations. Since Norwegians consistently refer to the area as "Gudbrandsdalen", in English it must either be referred to as "the Gudbrandsdal" (in the same way as "the Congo," "the Bronx," and "the Sudan," and I suppose "the Hague") or simply "Gudbrandsdalen." My guess is that it would be easier to train people to say "Gudbrandsdalen" than to insist that they include the definitive article first.

Curiously, other valleys are less definitive - it is unproblematic to refer to Setesdal, Odal, Hallingdal, as I just did, and nobody would ever say Oppdalen. You could say "min slekt er fra Setesdal," but never "min slekt er fra Gudbrandsdal." I have no idea why that is... --Leifern 22:33, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

I prefer renaming this article to Gudbrandsdalen. --Berland 06:27, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sinclair

Please see Battle of Kringen, which contains two external websites. I also have this information from Aschehougs Norgeshistorie and have confirmed separately with the Clan Sinclair people. If you really want to challenge this, I can dig up the exact references. --Leifern 02:07, 6 February 2006 (UTC)