Jostedøla
river in Norway
Jostedøla (or unofficially: Jostedalselva) is a river which runs through the Jostedalen valley in Luster Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The Jostedøla river begins near the Fåbergstølen mountain farm where the runoff from the great Jostedalsbreen glacier and the lakes Austdalsvatnet and Styggevatnet comes together in the Jostedalen valley. It then flows south for about 50 kilometres (31 mi), through the Jostedalen valley, and finally empties into the Gaupnefjorden (a small arm off of the Sognefjorden) at the village of Gaupne. The river is the main collector of water for an 804-square-kilometre (310 sq mi) watershed area. The river is great for fishing trout and some salmon.
The river has historically brought significant flooding. In August 1979, the river had a 100-year flood due to local rain and strong snow and glacial melting. The flood was higher than the previous one-hundred year flood in 1898. The Leirdøla power plant was built in 1978, which has helped reduce the flood risk along the waterway.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Jostedøla” as river in Norway. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as river in Norway. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4590430. Authority coordinates are 61.407, 7.282. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1979, 1898 and 1978.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jostedøla”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jostedøla primary sources, Jostedøla archive and Jostedøla research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jostedøla”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jostedøla” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.