The aim of this thesis is to present and examine the names of the islands in the archipelago of Luleå innorthern Sweden. The basis for the studies is a collection of names, which contains written forms excerpted from sources from the 14th to the 20th century and local pronunciations of old as well as modern names. The names ofthe islands in the collection have been studied from three aspects.

The first study (chapter 2) deals with the structure of the names and especially that of names of islands in double compound. The lack of s in names like Storhäll-grundet, where dialects in the south of Sweden and Standard Swedish would have Storhällsgrundet, is the starting point of the investigation. (Some double compounds have s in the compounding link like Bullerskärs-grundet. They are also discussed.)

The hypothesis advanced is that the dialectal distribution of the accent in the names in northern Sweden makes it possible to show where the link in the double compound is, so the 5, which in Standard Swedish and in the dialects in the south of Sweden is needed to mark the semantic limit between the parts of the compound, is not needed in the dialects of northern Sweden.

The stress in double compounds of the type AB-C (see above) is on the last element of the name or word: ——. Names in double compound of the type A-BC like Lill-Kvarnören have a different type of accent: — — with the stress on the first element of the name or word. The two different main accents in double compounds of the type AB-C and A-BC: — — — and — — — have the status of markers showing where the compounding link in the compound is, so the s is not needed in the compounds of the type AB-C in the dialects of northern Sweden. The study includes names of islands containing double compounds in the whole of Norrbotten and appellative double compounds from a collection of words from a village in Nederluleå.

The second study (chapter 3) deals with the relationship between the names and the land uplift. The Bothnian Bay is an area of rapid land uplift. The land uplift has its highest estimated values, 0,9 meters in 100 years, on the coast north of Skellefteå up to Luleå. Many names of islands have disappeared because the islands have been uplifted, especially in what used to be large bays, now large shallow lakes like Persöfjärden. New water-surrounded areas have on the other hand been named like Sandgrönnorna, described from old maps from 1790 and from photographs from 1946.

Chapter 3 consists of three sections, in which separate studies of names in relation to the land uplift are presented. The first section deals with the names ending in -grundet, -grunden. Originally names of under-water localities, they are now names of small islands and grundet has changed its denotation to 'small island' in the area. The second section in chapter 3 presents a method for the dating of names of island in uplifted areas. Many large islands, now uplifted, still have the names they had as water-surrounded islands. By following the equidistance curves around the locality it is possible to find out at what equidistance it was surrounded by water. Before that time it must have been named as an island. That is terminus ante quem, TAQ, for the name. The third section deals with the names of vattung, which can be dated from the time of their rise above the sea level. A vattung, 5 meters high, can thus be about 500 years old, terminus post quem, TPQ, about 1450. The studies presented above show that some names can be dated to the Viking Age.

The third study (chapter 4) deals with the names of large islands and the colonization. The colonization period of the northern part of Sweden is reflected in many names of large islands containing personal names like Hertsön and Germandön. No archipelago in Scandinavia shows such an amount of names of islands containing personal names. Most personal names are Nordic and can be compared to those in the names ending in -mark in Västerbotten and the south of Norrbotten. - Some of the names of islands containing personal names have also been dated in chapter 3. They are among the oldest names in Nederluleå.

In chapter 5 the names in the studies are put in relation to the historical and archaeological records in Norrbotten and can thus contribute to throwing light upon the colonization period of northern Sweden.