Noregr tyder nok vegen mot nord, likevel

Sammendrag

The article considers the etymology of the name Noregr, concluding that *Norðrvegr, ‘north-way’, is the most likely origin. An alternative idea suggests that the name is a compound involving the Germanic *nōra-, ‘squeezed together’, *Nór-vegr – either in the sense that ‘Norway’ is the route up through the narrow coastal straits of Norway or in the sense that ‘Norway’ is the long, narrow country. But the route up along the Norwegian west coast is wider than the one along the Skagerrak coast, and ‘squeezed together’ is not the same as long and narrow. Thus, *nōra- can hardly have generated a name adequately describing the original country of Norway. Nor does the proposal account for the dental in Old English Norðweg and Latin Northwegia and in the related nor(ð)rønn, ‘northern / Norwegian’, and norðmenn / nordmanni, etc.