Megalithic shipping and trade routes

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Ermeland/Ermland should be a desert if eremos meaning desert 'from Greek' is correct but it isn't. Nor are there deserts in Greece.

But both areas have a tradition of people studying the sky it seems. And both have a lot of islands which I suppose could imply a fairly isolated, hermetic life-style.

[Boreades]

If we were to turn that image upside...



... would Erme become Orme?

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Orm is supposed to be a Scandinavian word, while the nearest 'English' equivalent of erm is worm (or wyrm as the etymologists like to put it), a term that covers "serpent, dragon, snake".

The city of Worms in Germany was apparently a 'watery settlement' (which seems unlikely though the Latin vermis is not completely dissimilar to Venice). In German folklore Worms is said to be named for a lindworm or dragon slain by the hero Siegfried, a lindworm being traditionally a sea-serpent shown with a fish-tail rather than a dragon-tail. Could the name London be derived from Lindworm?

There may be a connection with the Great North Road, Ermine Street, which starts from London at Bishopsgate, on or near the prime meridian. The 'star-gazing' tradition is continued by the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.

[Boreades]

This caught my eye:

Sigurd = Siegfried

Sigurd agrees to avenge Regin and Hreidmar and kill Fafnir, who has been turned into a dragon by a curse sourced in Andvari's ring and gold which he's protecting. Sigurd has Regin make him a sword, which he tests by striking the anvil. The sword shatters, so he has Regin make another. This also shatters. Finally, Sigurd has Regin make a sword out of the fragments that had been left to him by Sigmund. The resulting sword, Gram, cuts through the anvil. To kill Fafnir, Regin advises him to dig a pit, wait for Fafnir to walk over it, and then stab the dragon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd

It rings a bell with the legend of the Red and White Dragons in Oxford. Which were caught by means of a pit filled with mead, which the dragons obligingly drunk after they had turned into pigs. Of course, if "dragon" is still the codeword for Druids (being usurped by Saints etc) it's more likely that the pit/trap was getting the Druids pissed and making pigs of themselves.

[TisILeclerc]

I was thinking of that Ermeland and the similarity in names.

Could there be a connection between the various possible meanings, i.e. Worm, Hermes, Ermine?

If there was somebody or a group of people with the name Hermes involved in some kind of activity, mapping perhaps or trade, that name could over time have had a variety of pronunciations. And some aspect of the original activity then gets associated with the particular name.

As for Ermine street we still use the name ermine for the exclusive attire of the elite in society. To the extent that it is extremely common for elite groups all over the place to wear it as a sign of their status. Strangely the shape of the black specks can be very similar to the fleur de lis another common elite 'badge'. And perhaps reminiscent of the staff that Hermes carried with him.



Here are the fleur and the ermine together in the alliance between Brittany and France.

Could there be something symbolic in the stoat turning from one creature to another seemingly according to the time of year?

Here's a site with a vase painting of Hermes with boots that look rather ermine like and carrying the simplified staff.

http://www.rhedesium.com/the-battle-of- ... pents.html

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We also consider the stoat hugely symbolic in TME. As you say, why should ermine with its 'fleur de lys' markings be selected as the stuff of royalty and of course it's a popular heraldic device.

The stoat/ ferret/ weasel (they seem to be practically interchangeable) comes under 'animal that was a former domesticate, or semi-domesticate, gone feral'. Ferrets of course are, or were until recently, used for hunting rabbits.

The Baltic probably needs to be looked at 'megalithically'. Could there be a connection between amber, the most valued item to come out of the Baltic region, and the Humber [or 'umber', 1) a natural pigment resembling but darker than ochre, normally dark yellowish-brown in colour ( raw umber) or dark brown when roasted ( burnt umber ) ]

Ermine Street goes pretty directly north from London's Bishopgate to the River Humber and South Ferriby (where the boats were discovered). At North Ferriby, on the other side of the Humber (overlooked by Swanland) it swerves a bit north-west. [Via Lincoln or Lindum...another 'Lindworm'?]

[Boreades]

Could there be a connection between amber, the most valued item to come out of the Baltic region, and the Humber [or 'umber', [color=#0040BF]1) a natural pigment resembling but darker than ochre, normally dark yellowish-brown in colour

I'll agree there is an appealing similarity, but having served a penance and lived beside the Humber, I somehow disagree. Amber is a bright and golden colour. The Humber is a dark brown shitty colour.

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The mouth of the Humber is very unusual. Almost half the estuary is blocked by a sand spit, Spurn Head

[Boreades]

I was thinking of that Ermeland and the similarity in names

Quite right. I was thinking the River Erme in Devon ought to be similar, but I haven't worked out how yet. Any ideas?

I'll have a look for any dragon/worm legends in Devon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Erme

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The Erme estuary is in Bigbury Bay, notable for Burgh Island, one of our favourite tidal causewayed islands.