[gothic-l] Early Germanic place-names in today Poland

[Pat Christiansen]

  Ryszard Derdzinski <galadhorn at inetia.pl> wrote: 
Heils!

Reikhardus again! I hope this information can be valuable for all these who
are interested in the earliest history of Goths and Vandals. Zbigniew Babik
in his "Najstarsza warstwa nazewnicza na ziemiach polskich" ('The Oldest
Onomastic Layer In The Territory of Poland'), Cracow 2001, enumerates many
place-names with Early Germanic etymology (he also provides us with a map of
these names - I can send it to you via e-mail).

It should be noted that these names occur mainly in two regions: in
north-east Poland (Pomorze, Kujawy) and in south-west Poland (Silesia).
These regions are usually connected with Gothic and Vandalic (Lugian)
settlement in antiquity.

The Early Germanic (East Germanic?) names in today Poland are according to
Babik as follows:

1. River-names ending with _-bok_ < Early Germanic _*-baki_ 'brook' (German
'Bach'):

[Polish] _Klodobok_ (Silesia) < [Early Germanic] _*Kalda-baki-_ (or
_*Kalda-bakja_) 'cold-brook'; cf. German _Kaltbach_

_Drybok_ (near Tczew) < _*?-baki-_ '?-brook' (the first element may be
pre-Germanic)

_Lusobok_ (Silesia) < _*lausa-baki-_ 'empty, poor brook'
(There is a street in Allinge Bornholm that has the name "Losebaek Gade. But I was under the impression it meant, "wild, uncontrolled, baek) Ben
_Olobok_ (rivers near Kalisz and Krosno) < _*?-baki-_ '?-brook' (the first
element may be pre-Germanic)

2. River-names ending with _-awa_ < Early Germanic _*-ahwó_ 'river' > Goth.
_*-ahva_:

_Bierawa_ (Silesia), _Centawa_ (Silesia), _Dokawa_ (Silesia), _Mierzawa_
(Little Poland), _Moltawa_ (Pomerania), _Olawa_ (Silesia), _Opawa_
(Silesia), _Oslawa_ (Little Poland), _Pilawa_ (Silesia), _Radawa_ (Silesia),
_Smortawa_ (Silesia), _Stobrawa_ (Silesia), _Szprotawa_ (Silesia), _Tymawa_,
_Tyrnawa_, _Widawa_ (Silesia), _Wiszczawa_

3. Lake-names ending with _-ag_, _-adz_ < Early Germanic _*-u/inga-_:

_Wdzydze_ (a lake near Gothic stone circles in Odry and Wesiory and in the
area of Wielbark culture) < _*widu?-inga_ 'forest?-lake'

_Trlag_ < _*Tru(l)l-unga_ 'Troll-lake'

_Wieldzadz_ < _*Wilthj-i/unga_ 'Wild-lake'

_Grudziadz_ < _*?-i/unga_ (sometimes connected with Gothic _Greutingi_)

_Zblag_ < _*Stibl?-inga_

4. _Skrwa_ < Old Polish _Strkwa_ < Goth. _*Struka_ 'brook, river' (cf. ON
_strjúka_ 'sich rasch bewegen', N _stryk_, _strok_)

5. _Goplo_ (lake) having the same etymology like ON _Gøpul_, Swedish
_Gapern_ < _Gapeln_.

6. _Trloga_ < _*Tru(l)lag-_ '[river, marsh] of the troll(s)' (_*-ag-_ is a
relational
element in Germanic)

7. _Nysa_ < _*Nós-aha?_ (from EGerm. _*nós-_ 'nose > fjord')

8. _Scinawa_ (Silesia) < _*Stain-ahva_? 'Stone-river'

9. _Wlodawa_ (Wielbark culture area) < _*Walth-(a)hwó_ 'Forest-river'.

10. _Pelta_; cf. Norse and German names coming from Germanic _*Fulthó_.

NOTE: Polish place-names have been simplified - I don't use special Polish
letters which cannot be properly expressed on this website.

Yours,

Reikhardus
(Ryszard Derdzinski)

maggot at saba.wns.us.edu.pl or galadhorn at inetia.pl

"Gwaith-i-Phethdain" http://www.elvish.org/gwaith
"Polish Tolkien Society" http://www.parmadili.w.pl
"Silesian Homeland" http://necik.mag.com.pl/~galadhorn/slask/index.htm
"Sindarin Dictionary": http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/gobeth.htm



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