--- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
> I have checked up the early Polish terms for Venus. The most common
one (translating Latin Venus, stella matutina, Lucifer, Phosphorus,
etc.) seems to have been <jutrzenka> (also <justrzenka>), still used
as a literary word for "the morning star" or "dawn, daybreak". What's
interesting about it is its very close relationship to Lith.
Aus^rine., since ju(s)trzenka < *justrIn- < *aus-r-in-. Of course,
its a derivative of *aus-ro- 'dawn, morning', from the "Eos/Aurora"
root *h2aus-. I haven't come across <dziennica> or the like with any
kind of astronomical or mythological meaning.
>
> Piotr
Austrine is a variant form of Ausrine. Also, the IE morning Venus
goddesses are normally associated not only with dawn, but with the
east and also spring and fertility. Oestra/Easter was the
German/English version of this goddess. Do you think her name could
be part of this equation? Taking it even further, I have for some
time believed that the Oestra, who is not known in Norse mythology,
is found there instead as Idun. Do you think it is possible to relate
her name to the dziennica and the Russian Dennitsa? If so, this
wouldn't be the only parallel between the Germanic and Balto-Slavic
deities.
The reason I find this intriguing is that I read a study where
researchers determined that Germanic had a Satem substrate that was
later 'Centumized'. If this was true, I wondered if this Satem base
was derived from the Battle Axe culture people that moved into
Scandinavia, mixing with Centum peoples en route and bringing them
with them.