The study of Viking-Age place-names of Scandinavian origin may yield considerable knowledge about a period of which we know relatively little. The primary purpose of this book is to shed some light on the Scandinavian settlement in the North Atlantic area. Although this work comprises the most comprehensive collection of recorded forms of the place-name element Old Norse bólstaðr to date, it is not to be regarded to be the final word on the subject.
The work is intended as a survey af the development af the mentioned place-name generic, from being a local northern Scandinavian place-name type to becoming the most widespread place-name generic in the North Atlantic. The collected material is submitted to a detailed analysis of the reasons behind the development of, and change in, the onomastic inventory of the specifics. The focus af attention is on the Norwegian and Scottish material.