- Kjárr
(the Celtic/Roman south). [ [http://runeberg.org/svetym/1174.html The entry "Valnöt" in "Svensk etymologisk ordbok" by Elof Hellquist (1922).] ]
Many scholars have suggested that the name is derived from "Caesar", but the route it took to
Scandinavia is not clear. It may have been transmitted through a West Germanic language, but since Scandinavia and theGoths had close connections, it may also have been borrowed from theGothic language and ultimately from Greek. The evolution of the name would have been "καισαρ" → "kaisar" → *"kēsar" → "Kíarr" → "Kiárr". A third possibility is that it originates from contacts with Rome beside the probably early borrowing "Rúm" in words such as "Rúmverjar" ("Roman soldiers").A perhaps less common view holds that it stems from Old Irish "Kíarr" [http://www.carlaz.com/phd/cea_phd_chap2.pdf Anderson, Carl Edlund. (1999). "Formation and Resolution of Ideological Contrast in the Early History of Scandinavia". Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic (Faculty of English). p. 44.] ] or from Cearbhall of Valland (
Wales ).In his "
Skáldskaparmál ",Snorri Sturluson lists Kjárr as a descendant of Auði, the founder of the Ödling dynasty:There are two other references which both place Kjarr far back in time as a contemporary of theHuns during theAge of Migrations . One of these is a poem in the "Poetic Edda " named "Atlakviða ":The second reference is in the "Hervarar saga " which contains a reference to Kíarr in a poem infornyrðislag which lists the great kings of old:The few appearances of Kjárr stand out from the general lack of references to the Romans in the literary sources of the
Germanic peoples before the arrival of Christianity. [http://www.carlaz.com/phd/cea_phd_chap2.pdf Anderson, Carl Edlund. (1999). "Formation and Resolution of Ideological Contrast in the Early History of Scandinavia". Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic (Faculty of English). p. 45.] ]ee also
*
Dukljan Notes and references
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