The
parish of
Sillejord (later spelled
Seljord) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt law). On 11 October 1873, an unpopulated area of
Kviteseid Municipality was transferred to Seljord. On 1 January 1883, an area of southeastern Seljord (population: 235) was transferred to the neighboring
Bø Municipality. On 23 January 1905, an unpopulated part of
Hjartdal Municipality was transferred to Seljord.
Name The municipality (originally the
parish) is named after the old
Seljord farm () since the first
Seljord Church was built there. The first element is the
genitive case of the word which means "sallow-tree" or "
willow". The last element is which means "
field". Prior to 1889, the name was spelled
Silgjord or
Sillejord.
Coat of arms The
coat of arms was granted on 15 September 1989. The official
blazon is
"Gules, a sea serpent Or" (). This means the arms have a red
field (background) and the
charge is a
sea serpent. The charge has a
tincture of
Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The design symbolizes the local legend of a sea serpent named
Selma who allegedly lives in the lake
Seljordsvatn. The arms were designed by Trygve Magnus Barstad. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches The
Church of Norway has one parish () within the municipality of Seljord. It is part of the
Øvre Telemark prosti (
deanery) in the
Diocese of Agder og Telemark. ==Government==