an old name for Viksfjord – the bay south of Tjølling – since skírr could refer to clear water, and the suffix -ing is found in the names of numerous Scandinavian bays and fjords. In 2003 historian Andreas Nordberg suggested that Skíringssalr means "bright, shining hall". Historian Stefan Brink regards all of these interpretations as "practically impossible". While Skiringr is not found as the name of a god in medieval sources, nor is an Old Norse word skíring with a meaning "bright, shining", or indeed any such extension of an adjective with the suffix -ing; and an old name for Viksfjord was probably "Ælftangr", meaning "swans' bay". Instead Brink regards skíring as a word with unknown meaning and denotation. Location Saga sources such as the 13th-century Fagrskinna place Skiringssal in the region of Vestfold, in Viken, a historical area around Oslofjord, and documents from the 15th century indicate that Skiringssal was then a district which included Tjølling, a settlement a little over east of Larvik. In 1419 a farm at Guri, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west of Tjølling, was said to be in Skirix saal, and in 1445 properties belonging to a hospital in Tønsberg were listed under the heading "Skirissal": those properties which can be identified lay in Tjølling parish. Since Old Norse salr means "hall", the name of this district was presumably understood as the "district ... under the influence of [Skíringssalr]", the hall in question belonging to a king or chieftain. While it is likely that the original name of the local ecclesiastical parish was Tjølling, by the 15th century Skíringssalr had become the name of the bygd, or settlement district, and these names could have been used synonymously. The eponymous hall was located at Huseby, about 0.73 miles (1.2 km) south-west of Tjølling. The place-name "Huseby" seems to have originated as an appellative for a place with an older name, it occurs frequently in Scandinavia, and it is linked with administrative control of a district. Archaeological excavations at Huseby south-west of Tjølling in 2000–01 uncovered the remains of a large hall measuring between 105 and 112 feet (32–4m) long and between 30 and 33 feet (9–10m) wide, with tapered ends, standing on a raised area which was partly man-made. This building was in existence from the mid-8th century, but went out of use by about 900. History Stefan Brink suggests that the settlement area known