Roslagen is the name of the coastal areas of
Uppland province in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, which also constitutes the northern part of the
Stockholm archipelago.
Historically, it was the name for all the coastal areas of the
Baltic Sea, including the eastern parts of lake
Mälaren
Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is 1,140 km2 and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from e ...
, belonging to
Svealand. The name was first mentioned in the year 1493 as "Rodzlagen". Before that the area was known as
''Roden''. Roden had a ''skeppslag'' (roughly translated: ship district), the coastal equivalent to the inland
Hundreds.
When the king would issue a call to
leidang, the
Viking Age equivalent of military conscript service, the ''skeppslag'' in Roden was responsible for raising ships for the leidang
navy.
The name comes from the ''rodslag'', which is an old coastal Uppland word for a rowing crew of warrior oarsmen. Etymologically, Roden, or Roslagen, is the source of the
Finnish and
Estonian
Estonian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
* Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent
* Estonian language
* Estonian cuisine
* Estonian culture
See also ...
names for
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
: and .
[The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text Translated by O. P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor ]
A person from Roslagen is called a
Rospigg
Rospigg is a person from Roslagen. The name origins from the old Swedish word "rosbyggiar" - inhabitant in Roden. The word has thus nothing to do with the word "pigg" which is the Swedish word for "quill".
Rospigg is also an alternative name for ...
which means "inhabitant of Ros". Swedes from the Roslagen area, that is "the people of Ros", gave their name to the
Rus' people and thus to the states of
Russia and
Belarus (see
Rus' (name)).
[Harper, Douglas]
"Russia"
''Online Etymology Dictionary''.
The area also gives its name to the endangered domesticated
Roslag sheep, which originated from the area centuries ago.
Communications
The region is served by the
Roslagsbanan, a narrow-gauge railway network from Stockholm, going as far noth as
Kårsta. The motorway
E18 goes through Roslagen between
Kapellskär and Stockholm.
Nature
The hiking trail
Roslagsleden
Roslagsleden (Roslags Trail) is a 190 km long hiking trail in Stockholm County, Sweden.
Roslagsleden is part of the European route E6 which goes from Kilpisjärvi in the north to Greece in the south. The trail is split up in 11 sections tha ...
crosses the region starting in
Danderyd and ending in
Grisslehamn.
See also
*
Attundaland
*
Fjärdhundraland
*
Fälö by
*
Tiundaland
*
Stones of Mora
The Stones of Mora () is a historic location in Knivsta, Sweden. Several Medieval kings of Sweden were proclaimed at
the assembly of Mora near modern Uppsala. It was moved in the 15th century and was considered to have been lost. However, ther ...
*
Swedes (Germanic tribe)
*
Norrtälje
References
External links
* http://www.roslagen.se/ Tourism page
Coasts of the Baltic Sea
Uppland
History of the Rus' people
{{Sweden-geo-stub