Piotr wrote
> (c) IE *xster- (*h2ster-) does not refer specifically to Venus; the
latter is often called "Morning/Evening" (Us.ana-, Hesperos, etc.),
but not "the Star".
Umm. This association has occured to me before, but I've never posted
it. Am I folk-etymologizing? *Xster seems awfully close to Kastor
('beaver' in Greek).
Kastor and Poludeukes, of course, are the Divine Twins, Leda's boys.
Their association with the morning/evening star is attested.
And we in the US don't call it the plow/plough. It's the Big Dipper.