Editing Risør (section)

===Name===
The town and municipality is named after the small island of ''Risøya'' which is located on the sea, just off the coast of the town. The name likely comes from the [[Old Norse]] name {{lang|non|Ríseyjar}}. The first element is {{wikt-lang|non|rís}} which means "[[thicket]]" or "brush". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|eyjar}} which means "[[islands]]". The relatively more modern [[Danish language]] version of ''eyjar'' is ''øer'', hence the current spelling of "Risør". The old name of the town (prior to 1909) was ''Øster Riisöer'' or ''Østerrisør'' (with {{wikt-lang|no|øster}} meaning "eastern" Risør). After 1909, it was simply called ''Risør''. The prefix was added in the 16th century to distinguish this town from the town of ''Vesterrisør'', the old name of the nearby town of [[Mandal, Norway|Mandal]]. After ''Vesterrisør'' was renamed ''Mandal'', the prefix was dropped as it was no longer needed.<ref name="snl" />