--- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
> The most convincing etymology of the Rhône (Rhodanus) is Celtic:
*ro-dan(u)- 'big river' (Celtic *ro- < *pro- is an intensive prefix).
The Rhine (Rhenus), I believe, reflects Celtic *re:nos < *rei-no-
s 'rushing water' from *rei- 'run, flow' (cognates include Latin
ri:vus and English run), but Chris Gwinn's expert opinion on that
would be worth hearing. The two names are unrelated, and hydronymic
*ran(d)- can scarcely be related to either. It is difficult to say
what it might be in etymological terms. Perhaps the simplest
possibility is Germanic *rand- 'boundary, border' -- but of course
it's a mere shot in the dark. It usually helps if one knows something
concrete about the river in question -- its physical features, local
topography, etc.
>
> Piotr
>
>
I can't come up with anything it might have been the border of.
Well, one of my ancestors used to be s boatsman on that river (the
Gudenaa), dragging barges along the towpath (seriously!), so it's not
that dissimilar to the Volga :). It's our only navigable "river" (if
anything here deserves that name). The town of Randers is at the
place where it becomes a wide 30 km estuary.
The Ynglingesaga says of Odin:
"First he went west to Gardariki [Russia] and then south in Saxland.
He had many sons. He won for himself a large realm in Saxland and
there he placed his sons to rule the land; then he went North to the
Ocean and took abode on an island, where it is now called Odinsey, on
Fyn." Obviously the town of Odense.
Now if this actually happened (but I'm pretty sure you're
unconvinced), this guy Odin might have spoken (or known) an Iranian
language, jusdging from his first known position.
For anyone into reading Norwegian, here's a site that proposes that
the Ynglingasaga is factual:
http://www.bgnett.no/~sjar/Innhold.htm
But here's another river puzzle. Perhaps you would care to comment?
Danus, Indus, Idanus; Ain, Nebenfluss der Rhône, Frankreich
as names for the same river.
(from
http://www.cuni.cz/~pribrami/ruzne/Graesse/orblatd.html#Danus
).
Torsten