u/MatijaReddit_CG

In Slavic languages there is a word derieved from "*rajь" which means paradise, but in Slavic mythology there is also a place called Iriy/Vyrai/Vyriy/Irij. Are these two words somehow connected?

Here's what I found.

WORD "*rajь"

Etymology of the Proto-Slavic word "*rajь", according to Wiktionary:

>Probably borrowed from an Iranian language, from Proto-Iranian *raHíš, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *raHíš, from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“wealth, goods”).

PII word "*raHíš" means: wealth, property, goods. I don't know how did it change it's meaning in Slavic and Lithuanian languages to mean "paradise"?

Wiktionary in Russian has another theory for "рай" (translated in English):

>A number of etymologists, without any basis, associate the Slavic *rajь with рой, ре́ (similar to край: крови́ть) and assume here an ancient meaning of "sea, current." The fact that no traces of the use of рай as a "river, current" have survived in Russian hydronymy speaks against this latter etymology. They also identify рай with the Russian рай "distant noise, rumble."

WORDS "*jьrъ", "*jьrьjь"

I couldn't find the etymology page of the PSl words "*jьrъ" and "*jьrьjь", on Wiktionary, but there is one for PBS "*jáuˀrāˀ" (body of water (lake, sea), marshland).

>No Slavic descendants are safely deduced. Superficial match to the related i-stem is dial. Russian вырь (vyrʹ, “wirlpool”) (for the development Proto-Balto-Slavic *jū- > Proto-Slavic *vy- compare the pronoun *vy (“you”)). The fabled names for “Otherworld, Elysium” in a handful of Slavic languages:

(Listed names)

>have been also suggested as possible cognates, however, with lesser certainty. These mythonyms could alternatively be *vъ- prefixed variants of the Iranian borrowing *jьrьjь (“Aryan realm”) (whence Russian ирей (irej), Ukrainian ірій (irij), Serbo-Croatian ириј, Czech irij), which Early Slavs believed to be the place where birds migrate during winter. Other theories also exist.

>Derksen qualifies the existence of Slavic descendants as "highly uncertain".

Page for Iriy on Wikipedia says:

>The etymological reconstruction of the word, supported by preserved beliefs, allows us to connect the Iriy with the oldest Slavic ideas about the other world, which is located underground or beyond the sea, where the path lies through water, in particular, through a whirlpool. The pagan Slavic peoples thought the birds flying away to Vyrai for the winter and returning to Earth for the spring to be human souls.

>This term is sometimes said to be derived from rai, the Slavic word for paradise, but this is probably a folk etymology. It could be derived from the Proto-Slavic *rajъ in connection with the Persian rayí (wealth, happiness). Similarities to other languages have also been found, for example: the Greek éar (spring), Sanskrit áranyas (alien, distant), or the Proto-Indo-European *ūr- (water), but none of these three theories have found common recognition or approval.

MY THOUGHTS

I see that there are proposed theories which connect the words "*rajь" and "*jьrъ", "*jьrьjь" to water and whirpools somewhere beyond the world. Could it be possible that "*jьrъ", "*jьrьjь" was word which Proto-Slavs used for the otherworld, but through the exchange between Slavic and Iranian tribes, the similiar sounding PI word *raHíš ended up taking over?

ATTEMPT AT PBS AND PSL. RECONSTRUCTION FOR PIE "*reh₁ís"

I also wanted to try to see how would "*reh₁ís" end up in PBS and PSl.. I found a similiar PIE word "*reh₁t-" (post, beam, pole), but I couldn't find PBS and PSl roots, just a descendant words in OCS: "ратище" ("ratište") and "ратовище" ("ratovište").

My attempt:

PIE: *reh₁ís

PBS: (?)-is

PSl: *raь

I'm probably wrong, but I don't know if "*reh₁-" with "h₁" laryngeal would produce "*ra-" in PBS and PSl. descendants, and how the "-ь" would affect the word. Please correct me, I'm really curious about this word.

The names I think I saw were:

• Triglav (Three-headed) - the god Triglav probably symbolizing the three parts of the Tree;
• Veledub (Great Oak);

My ween (idea) is "worketing".

Rootloring (Etymology)

From English work^(*1) + -et^(*2) + -ing.

^(*1) - Sibword (cognate) of organ.

^(*2) - Sibword (cognate) of -ise.

My weens (ideas) are to brook (use) "instell" for "institute" and "instelling" for "institution".

Prometheus Brings Fire by Heinrich Friedrich Füger.

SIMILIAR MYTHS OF THE THEFT OF FIRE

In Greek (IE) mythology there is Prometheus who stole the fire from Olympians and gave it to the humans. As a result he was chained to Caucasus mountains, and an eagle is sent every day to eat his liver.

In Georgian (non IE) mythology (in one version) there is Amirani who stole the fire from metalsmiths and gave it to the humans. As a result he was chained to Caucasus mountains, and an eagle is sent every day to eat his liver.

In Vainakh (non IE) folklore there is Pkharmat who stole the fire from Sela and gave it to the humans. As a result he was chained to Caucasus mountains, and a falcon is sent every day to eat his liver.

In Vedism and Hinduism (IE) there is Mātariśvan, which is one of the names of Agni, who stole the fire from Sela and gave it to the humans.

SIMILIAR MYTHS OF THE PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN WORSHIP OF FIRE

The last one I mentioned, Mātariśvan or more importantly his name, Agni, etymologically comes from the proposed PIE deity called *H₁n̥gʷnis. The PIE word *H₁n̥gʷnis is ancestor of some words for fire in IE languages:

• Proto-Albanian: *agni
• Proto-Balto-Slavic: *úngnis
• Proto-Indo-Iranian: *Hagníš
• Proto-Italic: *əngʷnis

Some of the deities which were connected to this words were:

Enji in Illyrian and Albanian mythology.

Agni in Vedism and Hinduism.

(Possibly) Ugnis*^(1) in Lithuanian folklore.

(Possibly) Uguns*^(1) in Latvian folklore.

(Possibly) Ogonĭ*^(1) (Svarožič) in Slavic folklore.

MY THOUGHTS

In Georgia, near the border with Russia, there is a dormant stratovolcano called Mount Kazbek or Kazbegi. With it's height of 5,054 meters (16,581 ft) above at sea level.

Mount Kazbek is associated in Georgian folklore with mentioned Amirani, who was chained on this mountain in punishment according to the legend. PIE people homeland, according to most researchers, was north of Caucasus, on Pontic steppe, but I think that there could have been a chance that they tried to connect their fire deity *H₁n̥gʷnis to some of the ones that were part of the Caucasian folklores. There were some words which were probably borrowed from early Caucasian languages by PIE people, like:

• *médʰu (honey, honey wine, mead) - possibly from Proto-Kartvelian;
• *uksḗn (bull) - possibly from Proto-Northeast-Caucasian;

Some of these interpretations of the mythical theft of fire were probably lost, and just remained words for the "alive"*^(2) fire and somewhere for a deity connect to fire, like in: Illyrian, Albanian, Lithuanian, Latvian and Slavic languages.

P.S. I'm an enthusiast in early Proto-Indo-European myths and linguistics, not an expert, so I'm sorry if I interpreted something wrong during my research.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

*^(1) From Wikipedia (link)

>Early modern sources report that Lithuanian priests worshipped a "holy Fire" named Ugnis (szwenta), which they tried to maintain in perpetual life, while Uguns (māte) was revered as the "Mother of Fire" by the Latvians. Tenth-century Persian sources give evidence of the veneration of fire among the Slavs, and later sources in Old Church Slavonic attest the worship of fire (ogonĭ), occurring under the divine name Svarožič, who has been interpreted as the son of Svarog.

*^(2) From Wiktionary (link):

>Two main terms for “fire” are reconstructible for Proto-Indo-European: *h₁n̥gʷnís and *péh₂wr̥. They are usually considered in semantic opposition. The first term is usually masculine and refers to fire as something animate and active (compare Agni, the most prominent Old Indic deity), whereas the second term is neuter and refers to fire as something inanimate and passive, i.e. as a substance.