Nordmark

Nordmarken is a wooded border district of western Värmland, where lakes and valleys approach Norway. Its communities were organised around early churches: by the late thirteenth century Blomskog and Holmedal served as mother parishes for a number of surrounding settlements. The long frontier made the district a meeting place of neighbouring lands, while the forests and waterways linked farms separated by difficult ground. Its name was already in use for this western country in the Middle Ages.