What precisely is the etymology of Ingvar
and similar names, anyway? Ing (*ingwaz) the fertilty god is no doubt the first
element, as in Ingulf, Ingjald or Ingvald (*ingwa-wulfa-, *ingwa-gilda-,
*ingwa-walda-), but sometimes the final element is too strongly reduced to be
easily identifiable. Ing(v)ard could be equally well either *ingwa-xarda-
(Ing-hard) or *ingwa-warda- (Ing-ward). Is the second element of Ingvar
*wara- 'watchful' (English aware, ON varr)? It may be -- rather plausibly, I
think -- but how can one establish it with certainty if more
transparent early forms are not directly attested? I've seen other
proposals, including less believable ones, in serious
dictionaries.
Question two: Is Ivar a variant of Ingvar
or an independent name? I've also seen Igvar (which looks like a compromise
between the two) used as a first name, and several English placenames
suggest Anglo-Danish *Inwar. Igvar, if attested during the Viking Age, would
have been a good prototype for Igor. Proper names often develop irregularly, and
in particular they may be shortened in strange ways. However, Ivar/Iver is often
explained as *i:wa-harja- (*i:waz = ON ýr 'yew > shooting bow', *harjaz
'troop, army'), and if this etymology is correct, it has nothing to do with
Ingvar. I admit I'm a little at a loss here. Does anyone out there know more
about Ingvar and Ivar?
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 5:45 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: Language - Area - Routes
*Iggvars fits pefectly as well. I'm not sure about E
Scandinavian
form, but if it cointains -n- (something like Ingv-) it should
be
banned immediately - it had to yield Old Russian **E,gorI, Russ.
**JagorI - nonexistent forms. Besides, Old Russian IgorI and IngUvarI
were consistently treated as being different (one prince of the same
family at the same time could bear the name of IgorI, while another -
IngUvarI). Two different sources?
[in a later posting Sergei
corrected "IngUvarI" to InUgvarI --
PG]