We are told that the name of the River Oder – Odra – is cognate with the name of the Adriatic and both are considered to be “Venetic” or “Illyrian/Old European” in literature.
It is, of course, curious that these names appear where the Suavs appear and, as pointed out years ago on this site, there is even another Odra in Croatia (as well as a village by the same name, now, it appears, within the city of Zagreb).
But there are other Odras.
Tacitus’ Annals Book I, 56 says the following:
“Actually, his descent was so complete a surprise to the Chatti that all who suffered from the disabilities of age or sex were immediately taken or slaughtered. The able-bodied males had swum the Eder, and, as the Romans began to bridge it, made an effort to force them back.” (Loeb edition)
Now, what is this river Eder? According to the same Loeb translation, it is a “stream falling into the Fulda (the tributary of the Weser on which Cassel stands).”
This may well be though the Latin version of the text (you know, the actual original text) suggests a different prior name:
And indeed the Latin text is as follows:
“Igitur Germanicus quattuor legiones, quinque auxiliarium milia et tumultuarias catervas Germanorum cis Rhenum colentium Caecinae tradit; totidem legiones, duplicem sociorum numerum ipse ducit, positoque castello super vestigia paterni praesidii in monte Tauno expeditum exercitum in Chattos rapit, L. Apronio ad munitiones viarum et fluminum relicto. nam (rarum illi caelo) siccitate et amnibus modicis inoffensum iter properaverat, imbresque et fluminum auctus regredienti metuebantur. sed Chattis adeo inprovisus advenit, ut quod imbecillum aetate ac sexu statim captum aut trucidatum sit. iuventus flumen Adranam nando tramiserat, Romanosque pontem coeptantis arcebant. dein tormentis sagittisque pulsi, temptatis frustra condicionibus pacis, cum quidam ad Germanicum perfugissent, reliqui omissis pagis vicisque in silvas disperguntur. Caesar incenso Mattio (id genti caput) aperta populatus vertit ad Rhenum, non auso hoste terga abeuntium lacessere, quod illi moris, quotiens astu magis quam per formidinem cessit. fuerat animus Cheruscis iuvare Chattos, sed exterruit Caecina huc illuc ferens arma; et Marsos congredi ausos prospero proelio cohibuit.”
Here is another version from an older translation (Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb):
“But so suddenly did he come on the Chatti that all the helpless from age or sex were at once captured or slaughtered. Their able-bodied men had swum across the river Adrana, and were trying to keep back the Romans as they were commencing a bridge”
That this is cognate with the Odra and may be cognate with Ptolemy’s tribe of the Adrabaecampi or Adrabaikampoi (Ἀδραβαίκαμποι or, as some call them, Kampoi or Kampen – because that Adra seems to be irrelevant you know) ought to be obvious. The similarity with Obotrites and Abdera is also curious.
Now, as mentioned above, this river has been identified with the Eder. Nevertheless, the river appears as above with an “a” for quite a long time (following Greule):
- Adrana (Tacitus, Annals I. 51)
- super fluvium Adernam, usque ad flumen Adernam (Frankish Annals, A.D. 778)
- super fluvium Adarna (same)
- Adrina (about A.D. 800 from a 12th century copy)
- Adara (1028)
Only in the 13th century does the name begin to develop an “E” at the beginning though even then it is Eddera, Ederna or Ederina.
Staying in Germany, we have another stream Eder (an eight mile long tributary of the River Diemel in East Westphalia):
- in villa Nadri (887)
- Uuestnetri (958)
- Astnederi (1015-1025)
- in villa Nederi, in Westnederi (1015-1036 written down around 1160)
- in villa Nedere (1017 in a copy of the 11th century
- curtem Nederi (1018, written around 1160)
- Nedere (1183)
But why focus on Adras or Edras when we have more Odras? And in Germany no less. This is the Oder whose source is in the Harz (by Oderbrück):
- inter Oderam et Sevenam (1287)
- partem unam aque … Odera (1321)
All this before you even get to the Polish Odra.
The fact that the Suavic languages have retained the -adr stem with an H2O connection (or with a potential connection to a descriptive meaning of a river) I’ve mentioned many times before:
- wiadro (bucket)
- wydra (otter!)
- modra (very blue)
- szczodra (bountiful – compare this with wylewny – effusive; thus audr or uber as in fruchtbar)
- wydzierać (to rip out)
- wydzierać się (to be loud)
- maybe even wyżerać (to eat out but also to erode)
I also go back to the point that the suffix -a is fully appropriate for a language, such as Suavic, that views rivers as of female gender – rzeka (or reka/rega – for more on that see here). While the German languages have the feminine article die for die Fluss, this is hardly reflected in the river names themselves (hence the need for the article). And that’s true both in Germany and in the Scandinavian countries. The only exception, to some extent, is in the NW (for example, Leda).
Could this be a Teutonic word? What are other similar “wet” names? Otter (see above)? Maybe the “other” river (Via-dua) as compared to the? Vistula? Maybe but this is harder to see.
That being said, it is clear that all these words are cognates with IE stem uord found in such words as hydra (hydor).Some people have tied this to an Old Suavic name Vjord but if you do that you might just as well rope in fjords too. And then there is the word “word”. Do rivers speak? Or, in Polish do rzeki rzekają? And what’s the word for a bad smell? Odor, of course. Now just connect “reek” with “rzeka” / “reka”.
To add to that even further all we have to do is reach for Ptolemy. Here is a list (not necessarily exhaustive) featuring the stem –dr and similar stems:
- island Adru east of Ireland (2, 1, Hibernia)
- river Druentia (2, 9, Gallia Narbonensis)
- river Vidrus (2, 10, Germania)
- river Drave (2, 14, lower Pannonia)
- Adra town (2, 15, Illyria/Liburnia & Dalmatia
- Adria, town of the Piceni (3, 1 Italy)
- Idrae, people of Western Sarmatia (3, 5, European Sarmatia)
- Scydra, town in Macedonia (3, 12, Macedonia)
- Syedra town in Pamphylia (5, 5, Pamphylia)
- Bedoro, town in Palestina/Juadea (5, 15)
- Adru, town in Arabia Petraea (3, 16, Arabia Petraea)
- Adra, another town in Arabia Petraea (3, 16, Arabia Petraea)
- Addara, town in Arabia Deserta (5, 18, Arabia Deserta)
- Adrapsa, town in Hyrcania (6, 9, Hyrcania)
- Acadrae, people of Sinae (7, 3, Sinae)
Of course, I am not claiming these are all cognates (or for that matter that they have either been written down correctly by the original scribes or have been delivered to us correctly throughout the ages.
For other appearances of Odra see here and here.
Incidentally, even names that have traditionally been regarded as Teutonic are a bit more complicated in their origins. Take, for example, the above mentioned verbs wydzierać or wyżerać. This is pronounced (roughly), in the first case, vydserat and the third person singular – vydsera; and in the second case vyzherat and the third person singular – vyzhera. I leave aside wysrać though you can look it up and yes it also is a cognate.
Now in West Germany we have the Weser which the Romans reported as Visurgis but the Carolingian chronicler and annalists later showed as Wisera. This is a low-German form apparently. Let’s turn to the infamous Pripyet Marshes. If the Suavs/Slavs originated in that area of Polesie then they should be responsible for the names of rivers there. So then we have (apparently):
- Wizara (somewhere in Polesie region) “Wizara, Woroteć, Plesa, Losze, Kupa, Zaliska” (from a guide about Polesie so not a perfect source but feel free to try to verify)
In any event, separately we also have:
- Wys, Wysia, Wisia (on the border of the former Kiev and Cherson government)
- Wissa, Wyssa (near Warzno lake)
Could these be Gothic? I suppose but are there similar river names in Scandinavia? Honest question.
(I leave it as a separate matter that the names of Visurgis (Weser proper) and Vistula had been switched around on occasion by various writers at least since the Middle Ages).
Obviously these Old Europeans must have covered a huge land stretch. The only question remaining must be the question of their dramatically complete extinction.
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