Strela

Ok to oblige some of our readers. Here is Mount Strela just south of Lake Veneticus (i.e., the Bodensee).

The word strzała present in Polish is described by Brueckner as an Ur-word and present among all Slavs – but not Balts. According to the definition currently plastered in Wiktionary, the Slavic word comes from the  Proto-Slavic *strěla, from Proto-Indo-European *strel-, *strēl-, from *ster- (“line, streak, stripe; jet, spurt; beam”).

A variant also exists in a German version as in strahlen meaning “radiate” with Strahl meaning a “ray.” The Wiktionary would view it as coming from Middle High German strāle, from Old High German strāla, from Proto-Germanic *strēlaz, *strēlō (“arrow, ray, beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *strēl-, *strēlā- (“arrow, beam”). Compare Dutch straal, English streak. But… this word does not appear to frequent the Scandinavian languages nor did it exist in Gothic and, eventually, seems to have been supplanted by the word “arrow.” As to “arrow” the Online Etymological Dictionary has this to say:

“arrow (n.) – early 14c., from Old English arwan, earlier earh “arrow,” possibly borrowed from Old Norse ör(genitive örvar), from Proto-Germanic *arkhwo (source also of Gothic arhwanza), from PIE root *arku-, source of Latin arcus (see arc (n.)). The ground sense would be “the thing belonging to the bow.” Meaning “a mark like an arrow” in cartography, etc. is from 1834. A rare word in Old English. More common words for “arrow” were stræl (which is cognate with the word still common in Slavic and once prevalent in Germanic, related to words meaning “flash, streak”) and fla, flan (the -n perhaps mistaken for a plural inflection), from Old Norse, a North Germanic word, perhaps originally with the sense of “splinter.” Stræl disappeared by 1200; fla became flo in early Middle English and lingered in Scottish until after 1500. To add to that the German language word for an arrow today is Pheil.” 

It is curious that in Slovene strela refers to the lightning flash. It seems that this definition is closest to what one might imagine is happening on top of a mountain. That is to say, lightning strikes mountains rather than arrows. Of course, one can keep both meanings if one proposes that the arrows are those of a Lightning God such as Yassa. (Note that Piorun aka Perun was not strictly speaking a God of Lightning but of Thunder – but Piorun or Perun can be brought into this as well – note that piron in Venetian and πιρούνι (piroúni) in Greek each refers to a “fork” which is exactly what lightning looks like – see here).

Finally, note that in Portuguese and Galician you have estrela meaning “star”. In Spanish you have estrella although the double l is pronounced differently (like a “y”).  The “star” explanation (which is likely cognate too with the stary meaning “old” and with ostry meaning “sharp” (think how you squint your eyes)  in Slavic).

For completeness, note that the official explanation of the name is from the Latin striga or Romansh stria – both meaning a “witch.” It is interesting to think of witches streaking (!) on lightning (in lieu of broomsticks – seems faster and, well, flashier) but stryga is also present in Slavic languages also meaning “witch”.

I personally, like the arrow of lightning explanation better than a star explanation as it seems more believable in the context of a mountain. A Slavic etymology seems more than probable given the proximity to the Slovenes and the presence of a number curiously Slavic looking place names nearby.