Volga – the river of seven names

Abstract

This article analyzes the names which denote or could denote the mightest river of Europe – the Volga, namely Old Russian Volga, Mordovian Rav(o), Mari Jul, Turkic Ätil, preceded by Byzantine records as Ἀττίλας, Ἀστὴλ, Ἄτελ, Tίλ etc., further Ἀράξης, Ὄαρος and Λύκος by Herodotus, Ῥᾶ by Ptolemy, plus names of the mythical rivers Raŋhā- in the Young Avesta and Rasā́ - in the R̥gveda. Their etymologies are discussed in detail and the most probable of them are finally presented in specific quasi-homonymous chains of names that elucidate mechanisms of ethnic and language changes along the shores of the river. In Appendix the text passages are summarized to illustrate important information about the river in various literary and historical contexts.

Keywords

• river
• Volga
• hydronym
• etymology