Ancient name for the inhabitants of Nericia. The root nari, neri is cognate to English narrow and refers to the narrow inlets that caracterized the geography. The north-eastern (Kvismaren-Hjälmaren) has disappeared artificially, but the southern part of the province still has a large fjord (Alsen), a tribe that is also mentioned in the lay of Völund (Weyland the Smith):
"When the Lord of the Njars, Nidud, heard That Völund sat in Wolfdale alone, He sent warriors forth: white their shield-bosses In the waning moon, and their mail glittered." - Translated by W. H. Auden and P. B. Taylor
Njarar or Njars is a name for the people of Närke, Sweden, that appears in the Scandinavian version of the Lay of Weyland the smith.
The Njars probably lost their independence early to the Swedish king at Uppsala, and they are not mentioned by Jordanes in his thorough listing of tribes in Scandza, in the 6th century.
However, njar is an umlaut having resulted in diaresis of an older ner.
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