It was located in the Mandalen valley in the northern parts of the present-day municipalities of Lyngdal and Lindesnes in what is now Agder county.

[3] The old (large) parish of Bjelland was divided on 1 January 1838 into two municipalities: Aaseral in the north and Bjelland og Grindum in the south (see formannskapsdistrikt law).

Bjelland og Grindum had a population of 1,662 in 1835, just before the split.

[4] On 1 January 1902, the municipality of Bjelland og Grindum was dissolved and its land was split into two new municipalities: Bjelland (population: 907) and Grindheim (population: 909).

The first element is the genitive case of the word bœr which means "farm" or "farmstead".