Fosnes is a municipality in the Namdalen district in the county of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. Fosnes is situated north of Namsos. The municipality includes the island Jøa and the second deepest lake in Europe - Salsvatnet.

Fosnes was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Two other municipalities were later separated from it: Flatanger (1871) and Otterøy (1913).

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the farm Fosnes (Old Norse Fólsknnes), since the first church was built there. The first element is fólskn f 'hiding place', the last element is nes n 'headland'. (The first element is referring to an inlet behind the farm, where ships could not be seen from the main fjord.)

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from 1992, and shows an oarlock.

(See also the coat-of-arms of Radøy and Tjøme.)