ВОПРОСЫ ОНОМАСТИКИ | PROBLEMS OF ONOMASTICS

Valery L. Vasilyev
Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University
Veliky Novgorod, Russia

New Look on the Toponyms Valdai and Gora-Valdai

Voprosy onomastiki, 2023, Volume 20, Issue 2, pp. 41–57 (in Russian)
DOI: 10.15826/vopr_onom.2023.20.2.015

Received on 3 February 2023
Accepted on 18 March 2023

Abstract: The article criticizes the traditional and widespread view on the etymology of the toponyms Valdai in the Novgorod region and Mount Valdai (Finnish Harjavalta) on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, west of St. Petersburg. A number of arguments are given that refute the opinion about a single Balto-Fennic proto-form (*Vaara-valda ‘Mountainous region’) for these toponyms. Instead, the author substantiates that Gora-Valdai goes back to a two-basic personal name borrowed by the Baltic Finns from the ancient Germans; this ancient Germanic anthroponym was previously reconstructed as *Harja-waldaz and continues in English Harold and other similar names. The name Valdai of Novgorod, which is proved to be the original lake name that later transferred to the adjacent villages and the surrounding area, has a completely different origin. The author offers two etymological solutions: from Baltic *Vald-oj- (Balto-Slavic vald- ‘to manage’) or from Balto-Fennic *Valda-järvi meaning ‘Full-flowing, large lake’ or ‘Main lake’. Relying on some common features (meaning of the base, features of the Slavic adaptation of the toponym), the author is inclined to the Balto-Fennic version, which fully corresponds to the natural geographical characteristics of Lake Valdai. From the first half of the 18th c., the Novgorod toponym Valdai impacted on the formation of the name Gora-Valdai of the village to the west of St. Petersburg. Besides, thanks to Patriarch Nikon’s activity in the foundation of the Iversky Bogoroditsky Monastery from the middle of the 17th c., the names of the Valdai Lake and the adjacent village (now the city of Valday) acquired all-Russian recognition, which led to their spread to territories remote from the Novgorod province. Thanks to transfers, secondary toponyms of Valdai appeared in Karelia, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, and Ivanovo regions.

Keywords: toponyms; hydronyms; anthroponyms; Balto-Fennic language; Old Germanic; Old Russian language; etymology; Novgorod region; Leningrad region.

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