By Staffan Fridell
In: Ortnamnssällskapets i Uppsala årsskrift 2018
Summary
It is well known that, in the early Middle Ages, Västerås and what is now Uppsala were both called Aros and that, to distinguish them, Væstra and Østra, respectively, were placed before the name. What is probably less well known is that there were also two settlements in Sweden with the name Litla Aros ‘Little Aros’: a now lost settlement in Svedvi parish in Västmanland (j aros 1399, j lithla aarws, j litlaarosse 1419), and Lisselås, in Tillinge parish in Uppland (j lizlaars1446, j litlars 1467). Litla Aros in Västmanland was given the prefix Litla in relation to Aros/Væstra Aros, while its counterpart in Uppland was given the prefix in relation to Aros/Østra Aros, which must have happened before the latter town changed its name to Uppsala in the 1270s.