Roslagen is the name of the coastal areas of
Uppland
Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...
province in
Sweden, which also constitutes the northern part of the
Stockholm archipelago.
Historically, it was the name for all the coastal areas of the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
, including the eastern parts of lake
Mälaren, belonging to
Svealand
Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, T ...
. 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 institution known as ''leiðangr'' (Old Norse), ''leidang'' ( Norwegian), ''leding'' ( Danish), ''ledung'' ( Swedish), ''expeditio'' (Latin) or sometimes lething (English), was a form of conscription ( mass levy) to organize coastal fleets for s ...
, the
Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
equivalent of military conscript service, the ''skeppslag'' in Roden was responsible for raising ships for the leidang
navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
.
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
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
and
Estonian names for
Sweden: and .
[The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text Translated by O. P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor ]
A person from Roslagen is called a
Rospigg which means "inhabitant of Ros". Swedes from the Roslagen area, that is "the people of Ros", gave their name to the
Rus' people
The Rusʹ (Old East Slavic: Рѹсь; Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian: Русь; Old Norse: '' Garðar''; Greek: Ῥῶς, ''Rhos'') were a people in early medieval eastern Europe. The scholarly consensus holds that they were or ...
and thus to the states of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
and
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
(see
Rus' (name)
Rus or RUS may refer to:
People and places
* Rus (surname), a Romanian-language surname
* East Slavic historical territories and peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia
** Rus' people, the people of Rus'
** Rus' territories
*** Kievan ...
).
[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
Roslagsbanan is a narrow gauge commuter railway system in Roslagen, Stockholm County, Sweden. Its combined route length is and there are 38 stations. It is built to the Swedish three foot () gauge. The Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) classifies ...
, a narrow-gauge railway network from Stockholm, going as far noth as
Kårsta. The motorway
E18 goes through Roslagen between
Kapellskär
Kapellskär () is a port about north of Stockholm, in Sweden. It is located by the Baltic Sea, in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County.
Services
The port is served by frequent passenger ferry services to Mariehamn, Åland, Finland, operated ...
and Stockholm.
Nature
The hiking trail
Roslagsleden crosses the region starting in
Danderyd
Danderyd Municipality (''Danderyds kommun''; ) is a municipality north of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is one of the smallest municipalities of Sweden, but the most affluent. Its seat is located in Djursholm and it is ...
and ending in
Grisslehamn
Grisslehamn is a locality and port located on the coast of the Sea of Åland in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. The locality had 249 inhabitants in 2010.
The name Grisslehamn was first mentioned in a document from 1376 about t ...
.
See also
*
Attundaland
Attundaland (or the land of the eight hundreds) was the name given to the southeastern part of the present day province of Uppland, north of Stockholm. Its name refers to its role of providing 800 men and 32 ships for the leidang of the Swedish ...
*
Fjärdhundraland
Fjärdhundraland or the ''land of the four hundreds'' is, since 1296, a part of the province of Uppland in Sweden. Its name refers to its role of providing 400 men and 16 ships for the leidang of the Swedish king at Uppsala.
Snorri Sturluson re ...
*
Fälö by
Fälö by is a village in northern Roslagen, Börstil parish, Väddö and Häverö skeppslag, Östhammar, Uppsala County, Sweden. ''By'' (village) is a historical entity that was providing a soldier each.
The village lies east of Raggarön, n ...
*
Tiundaland
Tiundaland is a historic region, '' Folkland'', and since 1296 part of the modern province of Uppland. It originally meant the ''land of the ten hundreds'' and referred to its duty of providing 1000 men and 40 ships for the Swedish king's leidang. ...
*
Stones of Mora
*
Swedes (Germanic tribe)
The Swedes ( sv, svear; Old Norse: ''svíar'')
(probably from the PIE reflexive pronominal root * s(w)e, "one's own ribesmen/kinsmen;Bandle, Oskar. 2002. The Nordic languages: an international handbook of the history of the North Germanic lan ...
*
Norrtälje
Norrtälje is a locality and the seat of Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 17,275 inhabitants in 2010. It is one of the largest towns in Roslagen.
History
Norrtälje’s early history dates back to the Iron Age. Around 225 ...
References
External links
* http://www.roslagen.se/ Tourism page
Coasts of the Baltic Sea
Uppland
History of the Rus' people
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