Oslo Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Name and seal== After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, during the reign of [[Christian IV of Denmark|King Christian IV]], a new city was built closer to [[Akershus Fortress]] and named Christiania in the king's honour. The old site east of the Aker river was not abandoned, however, and the village of Oslo remained as a suburb outside the city gates. The suburb called Oslo was eventually included in the city proper. In 1925 the name of the suburb was transferred to the whole city,{{why|date=November 2023}} while the suburb was renamed [[Old Town, Oslo|"Gamlebyen"]], literally "the Old town", to avoid confusion.<ref>Aftenposten, 12 October 2014, p. 15.</ref><ref name=Osloby>[http://www.osloby.no/nyheter/Han-har-kartlagt-Christianias-karthistorie-7810898.html Han har kartlagt Christianias karthistorie] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113110837/http://www.osloby.no/nyheter/Han-har-kartlagt-Christianias-karthistorie-7810898.html|date=13 January 2016 }}, ''Osloby'', 8 December 2014.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://snl.no/Oslo/historie |title=Oslo – historie |date=3 August 2018 |access-date=23 October 2018 |archive-date=20 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020111834/https://snl.no/Oslo/historie |url-status=live}}</ref> The Old Town is an area within the administrative district [[Gamle Oslo]]. The previous names are reflected in street names like Oslo gate (Oslo street)<ref>Knut Are Tvedt, red. (2000). ''«Oslo gate». Oslo byleksikon'' (4. utg.). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. page. 324. {{ISBN|82-573-0815-3}}.</ref> and Oslo hospital.<ref>Pål Abrahamsen et al. (red.): ''Fra dollhus til moderne psykiatri. Oslo Hospital 1538 – 1988.'' Selskapet for Oslo bys vel. Oslo 1988.</ref> ===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> ===Seal=== {{Main|Seal of Oslo}} Oslo is one of very few cities in Norway, besides [[Bergen]] and [[Tønsberg]], that does not have a formal [[coat of arms]], but which uses a city seal instead.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oslo.kommune.no/the_city_of_oslo/government/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014174658/http://www.oslo.kommune.no/the_city_of_oslo/government/ |url-status=dead |title=Government – Oslo kommune |archive-date=14 October 2014}}</ref> The seal of Oslo shows the city's [[patron saint]], [[Hallvard Vebjørnsson|St. Hallvard]], with his attributes, the [[millstone]] and [[arrow]]s, with a naked woman at his feet. He is seated on a throne with lion decorations, which at the time was also commonly used by the [[List of Norwegian monarchs|Norwegian kings]].<ref name="Heraldry">{{cite web |url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/o/oslo.htm |title=Oslo byvåpen |last=Heraldry of the World |work=ngw.nl |year=2010 |access-date=5 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728135507/http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/o/oslo.htm |archive-date=28 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ===Other names=== Oslo has various nicknames and names in other languages. The city is sometimes known as "The Tiger City" ({{lang-no|Tigerstaden}}), probably inspired by an 1870 poem by [[Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson]] which referenced then-Christiania in central Oslo. The nickname is mostly used by Norwegians from out of town, and rarely by people from the Oslo region.<ref>"Fra Språkrøret: Hvorfor kaller vi Oslo for Tigerstaden?," ''St. Hallvard'', 3/1991, p. 61</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page