The parish of Skjold was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1849, the southwestern half of Skjold (population: 2,058) was separated to form the new municipality of Tysvær, leaving Skjold with 3,439 residents. In 1891, the eastern district of Skjold (population: 1,095) was separated to form the new municipality of Vats, leaving Skjold with 1,961 residents. On 1 January 1964, a small part of northern Skjold located north of the Ålfjorden (population: 24) was transferred to Sveio municipality in Hordaland county.[4]
On 1 January 1965, the municipality of Skjold was dissolved based on recommendations to the government of Norway by the Schei Committee. The districts of Liarheim and Langeland (population: 1,262), mostly located north and east of the Grindafjorden, were merged with the municipality of Sandeid and parts of the municipalities of Imsland, Vats, and Vikedal to create the new municipality of Vindafjord. The districts Dueland, Grinde, and Yrkje (population: 1,133), mostly located south and west of the Grindafjorden and Skjoldafjorden, were merged with the municipalities of Tysvær and Nedstrand and parts of the municipalities of Avaldsnes, Vats, and Vikedal to form the new, larger municipality of Tysvær.[4]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Skjold farm (Old Norse: Skjǫldr) since the first Skjold Church was built there. The name is identical to the word skjǫldr which means "shield".[5][3]
The municipal council(Herredsstyre) of Skjold was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: