Svalbard

name

Etymology: Borrowed from Old Norse Svalbarð n probably through Norwegian. From svalr (“cool”) + barð (“edge, brim”), thus roughly meaning “cold shore”, probably alluding to the treeless landscape mostly covered with grass. The name was first attested in annales referring to year 1194, but it’s uncertain whether it referred to the modern archipelago. Cognate with Faroese Svalbarð, Icelandic Svalbarði and Norwegian Svalbard.

1. An archipelago, territory, and unincorporated area of Norway northeast of Greenland, in the Arctic Ocean.

   “Together with Vitterso, she devised a ‘winter mindset questionnaire’ to assess people’s attitudes to winter in Tromso, the Svalbard archipelago and the Oslo area.”