Altkeltisch

Jarilo” is supposedly a Slavic God.  No historic sources for this God exist but folk festivals in Belarus and eastwards (plus Serbia) are attested to have used the word Jarilo.  A possible connection is the God Gerovit mentioned in the lives of Otto which name may have referred to a Slavic Jarowit (pronounced Yarovit; the “Y” sound in Slavic was previously written with a “G”).

Which brings us to volume 2 of this curious book (Old Celtic Language Treasures):

It is here that we find Iarilla and, conveniently, Iariovidius.

The first is found in Vienne on the Iser and is ascribed to the tribe of the Allobroges.  Regarding the French Perigord and Vindalium which were nearby we wrote here.

(Incidentally, a similar name – Perigardi appears in Greece where, in the Chronicle of Morea, we read that the Turks “set out along the road straight along the tributary of the river Alpheios and went to Perigardi, in the direction of Vlyziri.  Now after they had arrived in Servia, Melik…” and that Sir Simon was “to take his own troops and those of the drones of Skorta and the troops of Kalamata and of Perigardi, of Chalandritza and also those of Vostitza, and to go to Isova, to the ford of Ptere…”  Virtually, all of these are Slavic names – incidentally, attesting to their presence in the Peloponnesus in the 13th century).

The second is believed to be “Venetic” and was found in Valle Policella, today’s Valpolicella just east of Lake Garda in the Veneto region of Italy.  There are other names that are curious when we think of Yassa of the Polish Gods or Jasion – both being associated with spring and fall fertility/agricultural rites (Polish wiosna – spring or jesien – fall).

Here is the imprint of the actual picture (from Giuseppe Razzetti, Monumenti romani e medioevali di Marano, Valgatara e Sanfloriano disegnati per incarico del conte Giovanni Orti Manara (portion from the Erica Fazzini paper): Just on the same page we also found other interesting names, including Iassa, Iassia, Iassus, Iausus, Iarus, Iasir as well as others.

Some of these appear in relation to various Venetic names whereas others appear in other places such as Nijmegen (the oldest city in Holland – incidentally, an area of settled by the Batavians of Veleda fame).  Some have likely nothing to do with the Veneti (for example, the name Iulius Iausus).  Others that you can see but we did not mark may be related but that is uncertain (for example Iavvos or Iavus may be related to the Slavic jawa (pronounced yava) meaning consciousness, the conscious state or reality) but maybe not.

And speaking of Nijmegen, it is also the place where we find another mention of Lada in the inscription Minervae cur(iae) Ladae T. Punicius Genialis Ilvir coln. Morinorum sacerdos Romae et Aug. ob honorem:

This, as well as the other mention of Lada (Imple o Lada) we already discussed here.

(Incidentally, if you think Laba, the Slavic name of the Elbe comes from the German, just look at the number of words in this book that contain lab-, the word labia, by the way, expresses the river concept quite well and is, of course, present in many Indo-European languages.  This makes one think that Elbe, as in albius/white, may or may not be the right etymology).

What about Nia?  Well, no such name.  There is a Ni in an inscription near Polenzo (near Turin… Turin) and a Niati near Lyon.  Otherwise, there are various rivers named Nava (compare Krok going to “Nava”).

If you want to keep going you can consult other volumes where you will find, for example, Devana, a city of the Taizali tribe on Loch Daven (Devon?).

Incidentally, we were hardly the first to notice the above.  The following is from an 1894 Slovenian periodical Dom in Svet:

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February 13, 2017

2 thoughts on “Altkeltisch

  1. Maciej P.

    Relating -lo suffix in Bavaria there were Tassilos. Here the names of the old nobility of Bavaria Hu(o)si, Trozza, Fagana, Hahiligga und Anniona (Lex Baiuvariorum). Now let someone tell me what these names even remotely mean in German? In other words, what is their etymology? Tassilo? It’s the same, but the name has a purely Slavic suffix -lo!

    Reply
    1. torino Post author

      Maybe. What is obvious is that there are many more “variations” that are seen as Germanic than Slavic. In other words, if you assume 10 cases are Germanic and only one Slavic then, of course, you’re going to rig the answers.

      Reply

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