Viken (literally the bay) is a landscape defined by Oslofjord in southeastern Norway which terminates at Terra Scania on the coast of West Sweden. The cultural hub is centred in Oslo and the capital of the region was formerly at Borre. It comprises the historical provinces of Westfold, Östfold, Ranrike, Vingulmark and Bohuslän. During the Völkerwanderung, this was a heavily fortified area of Vikings. Terra Scania, or Skåneland, once constituted the eastern part of the Danish kingdom. ... County Oslo NO-03 Landscape Viken Municipality NO-0301 Administrative centre Oslo Mayor (2004) Per Ditlev-Simonsen (H) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 224 454 km² 426 km² 0. ... Borre may refer to: The former name of Horten, a town and municipality in the county of Vestfold, Norway, located along the Oslofjord. ... Vestfold is a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. ... Østfold is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. ... Ranrike (Old Norse Ránríki) was the old name for a part of Viken, corresponding to the northern half of the traditional Swedish province of Bohuslän (roughly the physical Alfheim of Scandinavian mythology). ... Vingulmark was the name of a Viking Age petty kingdom around Oslofjorden. ... Bahusia, or Bohuslän, is a historical Sweden. ... The German term Völkerwanderung (the migration of peoples), is used in historiography as an alternate label for the Migration Period, of Germanic, Slavic and other tribes on the European continent during the period AD 300–900. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ...

Viken colonised Ireland, the Isle of Man and Galloway, North West England and South Wales. The migration brought commerce, a centralised government in the Irish Sea and with them a conjoined nature of Danish-Norwegian placenames. Goidelic Lochlann is a translation of Scandinavian Viken. Contrary to the culture within the Viken and the Irish Sea, there is an isolation between placenames in the Earldom of Orkney from the Normans' home of Vestlandet and placenames in the Danelaw from Denmark.(Zealand placenames in Jorvik and Jutland placenames in East Anglia.) Galloway (Scottish Gaelic, Gall-ghaidhealaibh) today refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright in southwest Scotland. ... North West England is one of the regions of England. ... South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the East and South, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the North and West. ... The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. ... Goidelic is one of two major divisions of modern-day Celtic languages (the other being Brythonic). ... The North Germanic languages (also Scandinavian languages or Nordic languages) is a branch of the Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. ... The Orkney Islands are one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland, and form a traditional county and Lieutenancy area. ... The Normans (adapted from the name Northmen or Norsemen) were a mixture of the indigenous Gauls of France and the Viking invaders under the leadership of Rollo (Gange Rolf). ... Vestlandet is the geographical region of the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. ... The Danelaw (from the Old English Dena lagu) was an area of England under the administrative control of the Vikings (or Danes, or Norsemen) from the late 9th century. ... Zealand (Danish: Sjælland) is the largest island of Denmark. ... Jorvik was the Viking name for the English city of York. ... Jutland Peninsula Jutland (Danish: Jylland, German: Jütland) is a peninsula in northern Europe that forms the mainland part of Denmark and a northern part of Germany, dividing the North Sea from the Baltic Sea. ... Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ...

Explanation of terminology

Scandza was derived from Terra Scania and used for all of Scandinavia although it is properly a Denmark–Sweden (North East Germanic) geographical affair tied to Burgundians in Bornholm. Other tribe names derive from regions: Goths are from Gotland, Geats are from Götaland, Varangians are from Varanger Fjord and Peninsula, Svear are from Svealand, Danes are from Danish isles like Funen and Zealand, Jutes are from Jutland and Angles are from Angeln. Álfheim was an old name for eastern Viken. Scandza was the name given to Scandinavia by Jordanes, in his work Getica. ... Scandinavia, Fennoscandia, and the Kola Peninsula. ... The Burgundians or Burgundes were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr (the Island of the Burgundians), and from here to mainland Europe. ... Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland (on the map of Denmark to the right, it is not shown in its true location; see the map at the bottom of the article). ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... Gotland is the largest island in the Baltic Sea. ... Geats (Gautar Old Norse or Götar in Swedish) is the Old English spelling of the name of a Scandinavian people living in Götaland, land of the Geats, currently within the borders of modern Sweden. ... Götaland, Gothia, Gothland [1], Gotland (AHD), Gautland or Geatland, is a historical land of Sweden, and was once divided into petty kingdoms. ... The Varangians or Variags were Scandinavians who travelled eastwards, mainly from Sweden. ... County Finnmark Landscape Municipality NO-2030 Administrative centre Kirkenes Mayor (2005) Tone Hatle (H) Official language form BokmÃ¥l Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 6 3,968 km² 3,468 km² 1. ... Suiones, Swedes, Svíar or Svear, were an ancient Germanic tribe in Scandinavia. ... Svealand is a historical region of Sweden. ... Funen (Danish: Fyn) is the third largest island of Denmark. ... Zealand (Danish: Sjælland) is the largest island of Denmark. ... The Jutes were a Germanic people who are believed to have originated in Jylland (Jutland) in modern Denmark and part of the Frisian coast. ... Jutland Peninsula Jutland (Danish: Jylland, German: Jütland) is a peninsula in northern Europe that forms the mainland part of Denmark and a northern part of Germany, dividing the North Sea from the Baltic Sea. ... Angles (German: Angeln, Old English: Englas, Latin: singular Anguls, plural Anglii) were Germanic people, from Angeln in Schleswig, who settled in East Anglia in the 5th century. ... Angeln (Angelen) is a peninsula in Germany, protruding into the Baltic Sea. ... Álfheim (Old Norse Álfheimr Elf-home) is the abode of the Álfar Elves in Norse mythology and appears also in northern English ballads under the forms Elfhame and Elphame. ...

Modern usage

In modern usage, the term Viken has been revitalized as a description for the landscape around the Oslo Fjord, especially the inner bay around Oslo, including Asker, Bærum, and Oslo. Vingulmark would historically have been a more precise name. County Oslo NO-03 Landscape Viken Municipality NO-0301 Administrative centre Oslo Mayor (2004) Per Ditlev-Simonsen (H) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 224 454 km² 426 km² 0. ... County Akershus Landscape Viken Municipality NO-0220 Administrative centre Asker Mayor (2005) Morten Gunnar Strand (H) Official language form BokmÃ¥l Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 385 101 km² 97 km² 0. ... County Akershus Landscape Viken Municipality NO-0209 Administrative centre Sandvika Mayor (2005) Odd Reinsfelt (H) Official language form BokmÃ¥l Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 334 192 km² 189 km² 0. ... County Oslo NO-03 Landscape Viken Municipality NO-0301 Administrative centre Oslo Mayor (2004) Per Ditlev-Simonsen (H) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 224 454 km² 426 km² 0. ... Vingulmark was the name of a Viking Age petty kingdom around Oslofjorden. ...

See also

• Vingulmark