Ranrike, or Ránríki in Old Norse, corresponds to the northern half of the traditional Swedish province of Bohuslän. Bohuslän is on the western coast of Sweden, bordering Skagerrak and Norway, and is approximately the area described as Alfheim in Scandinavian mythology. Ranrike forms part of Viken, which is a broad term for the huge bay formed by southern Norway and the northern part of Sweden's west coast.
It is sometimes claimed that the word "Viking" is derived from Viken, although the word "wicing" appears in the 6th or 7th century Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith which predates its appearance in Icelandic Sagas and Scandinavian rune stones. The word is used to refer to pirates generally and not Scandinavians in particular: the Old English word wíc means "trading city" or "camp". If this derivation is correct, the word may have come to mean Nordic pirates specifically when the Danes and Norwegians started raiding in the 8th century, and the term was eventually adopted by the raiders themselves.