The rest lived in the rural valley areas surrounding the Granvin Fjord or the lake Granvinsvatnet in the central part of the municipality.

The official blazon is "Vert, a fiddle Or in bend sinister" (Norwegian: På grøn grunn ei gul fele, skråstilt venstre-høgre).

This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a diagonal hardanger fiddle (Hardingfele), a type of Norwegian folk instrument.

The fiddle has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used.

This fiddle, used to play folk dance music, has two sets or layers of four strings and has a very characteristic sound.

The large lake Granvinsvatnet lies right in the center of the valley, just north of the village of Eide.

Norwegian National Road 13 entered Granvin via the Tunsberg Tunnel which runs through the high mountains to the northwest.

The highway then ran through Granvin before entering the Vallavik Tunnel which runs through the high mountains to the southeast.

A car ferry service connects Kvanndal (in southwest Granvin) with the villages of Utne and Kinsarvik (in Ullensvang municipality) on the south side of the Hardangerfjord.

German forces landed in the village of Granvin on 25 April as part of their pincer movement towards the Norwegian military camps at Vossevangen.

There was fighting at Skjervefossen for most of that day, until the Norwegian forces retreated late at night to avoid encirclement.

[16] The municipal council (Heradsstyre) of Granvin was made up of 13 representatives that are elected to four year terms.