Eskilstuna in the context of "Swedish Mauser"

Mälaren (UK: /ˈmɛlərɛn/ MEL-ər-en, US: /ˈmeɪlɑːrən/ MAY-lar-ən, Swedish: [ˈmɛ̂ːlarɛn] or [ˈmɛ̂ːlaɳ]), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is 1,140 km (440 sq mi) and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans 120 km (74.6 mi) from east to west. The lake drains, from south-west to north-east, into the Baltic Sea through its natural outlets Norrström and Söderström (as it flows around Stadsholmen island) and through the artificial Södertälje Canal and Hammarbyleden waterway. The easternmost bay of Mälaren, in central Stockholm, is called Riddarfjärden. The lake is located in Svealand and bounded by the provinces of Uppland, Södermanland and Västmanland. The two largest islands in Mälaren are Selaön (91 km (35.1 sq mi)) and Svartsjölandet (79 km (30.5 sq mi)). Mälaren is low-lying and mostly relatively shallow.

Being a quite narrow and shallow lake, Mälaren has bridge crossings between Eskilstuna and Västerås with two crossings on the western end at Kvicksund and three separate bridges between Strängnäs and Enköping in the central part of the lake. On the eastern end, the entirety of Ekerö Municipality is set on islands within Mälaren. That urban area also has a bridge connection to the mainland in Stockholm along with bridges between various islands in the municipality.

A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food preparation, as opposed to a table knife used when eating, as part of a set of cutlery. While much of this work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives — notably a large chef's knife and a smaller serrated blade utility knife — there are also many specialized knives that are designed for specific tasks such as a tough cleaver, a small paring knife, and a bread knife. Kitchen knives can be made from several different materials, though the most common is a hardened steel blade with a wooden handle.

Historically, knives were made in "knife cities" that are noted for being the best at their production in that country with the pre-emininent, in Europe, being: Sheffield in Yorkshire, North of England; Thiers, Puy-de-Dôme in the Auvergne of France; Solingen in the Northern Rhineland of Germany; and Eskilstuna of Södermanland in Sweden. Each of these produced knives in a styles particular to the city, with Thiers especially being noted for the French point of Laguiole and steak knives. Whereas in Japan, there are many dispersed centres of kitchen knife production due to diversification that followed in wake of legislation restricting the production of sword-making. These are Tsubame-Sanjō in Niigata Prefecture, Seki in Gifu Prefecture, Sakai in Osaka Prefecture, Takefu-Echizen in Fukui Prefecture, and Tosa in Kōchi Prefecture amongst a number of others. Each area have their own style of knife, with Sakai in Osaka favouring the "sheep's foot" or drop point, in contrast to the square-tipped style of Edo, modern-day Tokyo.

Södermanland County (Swedish: Södermanlands län, [ˈsøːdɛrmanland lɛːn]) is a county or län on the southeast coast of Sweden. In the local Sörmlandic dialects it is virtually universally shortened and pronounced as Sörmlands län, or simply Sörmland, which is the dominant pronunciation and spelling inside the county. For example, the name of the local regional council is Region Sörmland. Södermanland's capital is Nyköping and the largest settlement is Eskilstuna. In the sparsely populated interior, Katrineholm is the largest locality. In total, Södermanland has nine municipalities and about 300,000 inhabitants.

Södermanland borders the counties of Östergötland, Örebro, Västmanland, Uppsala, Stockholm and to the Baltic Sea. It holds the popular camping route called "Sörmlandsleden" which is a system of trails covering a total of approximately 100 mil (1000 km) of walking paths in Södermanland. The county has shorelines on Sweden's third and fourth largest lakes of Mälaren and Hjälmaren. There are also numerous large lakes in the Nyköpingsån river system through the west and centre of the county.