In the Gael. ar, slow, (whence the Arar, p. [118],) is to be found, as I take it, the root of the Welsh araf, mild, gentle. From this Zeuss (Gramm. Celt.), derives the name of the Arrăbo, now the Raab. This root is liable to mix with another, arv, p. [109], of precisely opposite meaning.
| Hungary. | Arrabo ant., now the Raab. |
| India. | Arabis ant., now the Purally. |
| Ireland. | The Arob(eg),[50] Co. Cork—here? |
I bring in here the word aram or arm, which, both in the names of rivers, and in the ancient names of men, as the German hero Arminius, needs explanation. The authority of Dr. Donaldson may probably have been the cause of the reproduction, even in some of the latest English works, of the mistake of confounding the name Armin, Ermin, or Irmin, with the word hermann, warrior, (from her, army, mann, homo). That it is not so is shown by its appearance in the ancient names of women, as Ermina, Hermena, and Irmina,[51] (daughter of Dagobert the 2nd). And by the manner in which it forms compounds, as Armenfred, Irminric, Irminger,[52] Ermingaud, Irminher, &c. For we may take it as a certain rule that no word, itself a compound, forms other compounds in ancient names. Indeed, the last of the five names, Irminher, (which is found as early as the 7th cent.), is formed from the word her, army, so that, according to the above theory, it would be Her-mann-her. The fact then, as I take it, is that, both in the names of rivers and of men, the root is simply arm or irm, and armin or irmin an extended form, like those found all throughout these pages. As to its etymology, the word aram, arm, in the Teutonic dialects signifying poor or weak, is in itself unsuitable, but I think that the original meaning may perhaps rather have been mild or gentle. The root seems to be found in the Gael. ar, slow; and aram may be a corresponding word to the Welsh araf. Baxter, who, though his general system of river-names I hold to be fallacious, was, for his time, no contemptible etymologist, suggests something of the sort.
| 1. | England. | The Arme. Devon. |
| Russia. | The Urjum(ka)—here? | |
| 2. | With the ending en. | |
| Italy. | Ariminus ant., now the Marecchia. | |
| The Armine. | ||
| 3. | With the ending es. | |
| Germany. | Armisia ant., now the Erms. | |
In this place I am inclined to bring in the Medway, and some other names connected with it. Among the various derivations which have been suggested for this name, that of Grimm deserves the first place, though I much fear that it is too poetical to be true. He observes, (Gesch. d. Deutsch. Sprach.), comparing it with another name—"In Carl's campaign, A.D. 779, there is a place mentioned in the vicinity of the Weser, called Medofulli, Midufulli; medoful means poculum mulsi, (Hel. 62, 10); it appears to have been a river, which at present bears some other name. Of just a similar meaning is the name of the river Medway flowing through the county of Kent into the Thames—i.e., Ang.-Sax. Meadovaege, Medevaege Medvaege (Cod. Dip.), from vaege, Old Sax. wêgi, Old Norse veig, poculum.... I suggest here a mythological reference: as the rivers of the Greeks and Romans streamed from the horn or the urn of the river-god, so may also the rivers and brooks of our ancestors, in a similar mythic fashion, have sprung from the over-turned mead-cup."
It is a pity to disturb so poetical a theory, coming too as it does from the highest authority, but I much fear that on a comparison of this name with all its related forms, it can hardly be substantiated. For the word does not stand alone—the prefix med is found in several names in which the second part can hardly be taken to mean poculum, and the ending way is found in several names of which the former part cannot mean mulsum. In any case, it seems to me that a Saxon derivation can hardly be sustained. For Medoăcus, (=Medwacus), occurs as the ancient name of a river in Venetia—this appears to be precisely the same name as that of the Medwag or Medway—and in Venetia we can account for a Celtic element, but not for a German. In Nennius the name stands as Meguaid or Megwed; and comparing this with a river called the Medvied(itza) or Medviet(za) in Russia, it would seem rather probable that the form is not altogether false, but that only it should be Medwed instead of Megwed. In that case it would probably be only another form of Medweg, for d and g sometimes interchange in the Celtic dialects, as in the Gaelic uidh and uigh, via, a word which indeed I take to be related to the one in question. Again, in the Meduāna of France and the English Medwin, we have a third form of ending, wân or win. And this may probably only be one of those extended forms in n so common in the Celtic languages.[53] So that the endings way, wân, wied, in Medway, Meduāna, Medvied(itza), may be slightly differing forms of a common appellative (p.p. [62], [63]), qualified by the prefix med, which we have next to consider. In Gibson's "Etymological Geography" med is explained as medius—Medway = medium flumen—the river flowing through the middle of the county of Kent—and this I think is the general acceptation. In the case of the Medina, (ant. Mede), which divides the Isle of Wight into two equal parts, I should readily accept such a derivation, but in the case of the Medway it seems to me a feature scarcely sufficiently obvious to give the name. And I should on the whole prefer a derivation from the same root as mead, mulsum, viz., Sansc. mid, to soften, Lat. mitis, Gael. meath, soft, mild—finding in Old Norse mida, to move slowly or softly, the word most nearly approximating to the sense, and thus deriving the name of the Medway from its gentle flow.
Nevertheless it must be observed that as well as the supposed river Medofulli referred to as above by Grimm, we find in a charter of the 10th cent., a river called Medemelacha, which seems evidently to contain the Gael. mealach, sweet, and to mean "sweet as mead." This river is near Medemblik on the Zuyder-zee, and I suppose that the name of the place is corrupted from it.
The following names I place here, though with uncertainty in the case of some of them.
| 1. | France. | The Midou. Dep. Landes. |
| Persia. | Medus ant., now the Pulwan. | |
| 2. | With the ending en. | |
| Russia. | The Medin(ka). Gov. Kaluga. | |
| 3. | Compounded with way, wân, wied, see above. | |
| England. | The Medway. Kent. | |
| The Medwin. | ||
| France. | Meduāna ant., now the Mayenne. | |
| Italy. | Medoăcus ant., now the Brenta. | |
| Russia. | The Medvied(itza). | |
| 4. | Compounded with ma, river, p. [60]. | |
| Germany? | Metema, in a charter of the 11th cent. | |