That’s nobody’s business but the Norwegians’ (but we’ll tell you anyway)
M. Michael Brady
Asker, Norway
The name Oslo originally was given to a settlement at the north tip of the Oslo Fjord, now called Gamlebyen (Old City). In the Middle Ages, the name was spelled in various ways in Old Norse, including Anslo, Ásló, and Ósló (first in 1225). In Low German it also was written Anslo, perhaps due to its nasal pronunciation. The word Oslo is a compound of two words, os meaning “river mouth,” and lo meaning “flatland.”
After storbrannen (The Great Fire) that destroyed Oslo in three days in August 1624, the city was rebuilt on the west side of the Bjørvika inlet and renamed
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M. Michael Brady
M. Michael Brady was born, raised, and educated as a scientist in the United States. After relocating to the Oslo area, he turned to writing and translating. In Norway, he is now classified as a bilingual dual national.
