Base established

In case you're wondering why I chose this song, everyone is blonde, and everyone is beautiful.

To Aarhus!

 

Aarhus: The city was mentioned for the first time by Adam of Bremen who stated that "Reginbrand, bishop of the church of Aarhus (Harusa)" participated in a church meeting in the city of Ingelheim in Germany.

During the Middle Ages the city was called Arus, and in Icelandic chronicles, it was known as Áróss. It is a compound of the two words ār, genitive of ā ("river", Modern Danish å) and ōss ("mouth", Modern Danishmunding; in Modern Icelandic this word is still used for "river delta"). The name originates from the city's location around the mouth of the stream Aarhus Å (English: Aarhus River) Å being the Danish word for a small river.

Through regular sound development, Medieval Danish Arus became Aars or Oes, a form which persisted in the dialects of the surrounding parishes until the 20th century. In 1406, Aarhus became prevalent in the written sources, and gradually became the norm in the 17th century. Today, the city is also called "The City of Smiles" among people in Denmark.

Week One Complete

Child = Barn. cf. Bairn?
Expensive = Dyr. cf. Dear?
Water = Vend. cf. Fen?
Nice = Dejligt. cf. Delight?
Cosy = Hygge. cf. Hug?

Taler du bananer?

Etymological fact of the day: The geordie slang word for home, 'yem' comes from the Danish 'hjem'. :)

The penguin has landed

I have no etymology fact for you today. I'm just letting you know the adventure has finally begun! :)

My parole's come through

Hat (n.) Old English hæt "hat, head covering," from Proto-Germanic *hattuz "hood, cowl" (cf. Frisian hat, Old Norse hattr), from PIE root *kadh- "cover, protect" (cf. Lithuanian kudas "tuft or crest of a bird," Latin cassis "helmet"). Now, "head covering with a more or less horizontal brim." To throw one's hat in the ring was originally (1847) to take up a challenge in prize-fighting.

From Russia with Love

Team (n.) Old English team "set of draft animals yoked together," from Proto-Germanic *taumaz (cf. Old Norse taumr, Old Frisian tam, Dutch toom, Old High German zoum, German Zaum "bridle"), probably literally "that which draws," from *taugmaz "action of drawing," from series *taukh-, *tukh-, *tug-, represented by Old English togian "to pull, drag" (cf. tow).

Fortress (n.) early 14c., from Old French forteresse "strong place" (12c.), variant of fortelesse, from Medieval Latin fortalitia, from Latin fortis "strong" + English -ess, a fairly uncommon suffix (duress, largess being other examples).

Anyway, here's the pic:

Germany used Thunder! It's super effective!

Thunder (n.) Old English þunor, cf. Swedish tordön literally means 'Thor's din'.
Another interesting footnote, the Russian word for lightning, 'молния' (molniya) comes directly from Mjolnir, the name of Thor's hammer in Norse mythology. Isn't that cool? :)

Beards, books and boredom

Beard (n.) Old English "beard," from West Germanic *barthaz (cf. Old Frisian berd, Middle Dutch baert, Old High German bart, German bart), seemingly from PIE *bhardh-a-"beard" (cf. Old Church Slavonic brada, Lithuanian barzda, and perhaps Latin barba "beard").

I have a etymological theory regarding beards that I might use in my dissertation.
The sources say the word 'barbarian' comes from the Greek 'barbaroi', meaning anyone who wasn't Greek (mostly the Persians) and that in turn came from 'bar-bar' which was mimicking the language of the savages.
I propose that instead of coming from 'bar-bar', it stems from the Greek 'barba' meaning beard. The Persians were a very hairy people compared to the Greeks, and I propose that 'barbaroi' actually meant 'the bearded ones'.
Where my theory falls down is that the Ancient Greeks were very keen on beards themselves, so perhaps further research is necessary.