Revala (also ''Rävälä'', , by Henry of Livonia ''Revele'', by Danish Census Book ''Revælæ'') was an Ancient Estonian county. It was located in northern Estonia, by the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

and corresponded roughly to the present territory of

Harju County Harju County ( or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the southeast, Rapla Count ...

. It was conquered by the Danish in 1219 during the Estonian Crusade. It also contained the town of Lindanise, nowadays known as

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, the capital of Estonia. The Icelandic '' Njal's saga''—composed after 1270, but describing events between the years 960 and 1020—mentions an event that occurred somewhere in the area of what is now Tallinn and calls the place ''Rafala''. The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

, ''Rafala'', was probably a derivation of ''Rävala'', or ''Revala'', or some other variant of the locally used Estonian-language name for the adjacent medieval Estonian county.

Parishes

* Rebala * Ocrielæ * Vomentakæ (Võhmataga)

References

Ancient counties of Estonia Harju County States and territories established in the 9th century {{Estonia-stub

Parishes

See also

References