Oslo

===Toponymy===
{{Hatnote|For full article, see [[History of Oslo's name]]}}
<!-- [[File:Oslo Royal Palace left.jpg|thumb|The [[Royal Palace, Oslo|Royal Palace]] is the home of the [[Norwegian royal family]]]] -->

The origin of the name ''Oslo'' has been the subject of much debate. It is nigh-certainly derived from [[Old Norse]] and was—in all probability—originally the name of a large farm at [[Bjørvika]], while the meaning of that name is disputed. Modern linguists generally interpret the original ''Óslo'', ''Áslo'' or ''Ánslo'' as either "meadow at the foot of a hill" or "meadow consecrated to the [[Æsir|Gods]]", with both considered equally likely.<ref>Cf. Bjorvand, Harald (2008). "Oslo." In: ''Namn och bygd. Tidskrift för nordisk ortnamnsforskning'', vol. 96, 2008.</ref>

Erroneously, it was once assumed that ''Oslo'' meant "the mouth of the Lo river", a supposed previous name for the [[Alnaelva|river Alna]]. Not only has no evidence been found of a river "Lo" predating the work where [[Peder Claussøn Friis]] first proposed this etymology, but the very name is ungrammatical in Norwegian: the correct form would have been ''Loaros'' (cf. [[Nidaros]]).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Peder_Clauss%C3%B8n_Friis/utdypning |title=Peder Claussøn Friis |encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]] |language=no |publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget |last=Jørgensen |first=Jon G. |location=Oslo |editor=Helle, Knut |editor-link=Knut Helle |date=28 September 2014 |access-date=14 September 2009 |archive-date=15 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515040125/http://snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Peder_Clauss%c3%b8n_Friis/utdypning |url-status=live}}</ref> The name ''Lo'' is now believed to be a [[back-formation]] arrived at by Friis in support of his [idea about] etymology for ''Oslo''.<ref>[http://www.snl.no/Alna/elv_i_Oslo "Alna – elv i Oslo"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019011703/https://snl.no/Alna%2Felv_i_Oslo|date=19 October 2016 }}, In: ''Store Norske Leksikon'' (in Norwegian).</ref>