Talk:Klarälven
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An entry from Klarälven appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 8 March 2006. |
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[edit] Nationalistic name change
The introduction of the article claims that the river changed names in Norway from Klara to Femundselva/Trysilelva for nationalistic reasons in the 19:th century. Does anyone have a source for that fact? I would like to include the explanation in the Swedish version of the article, but not without a good source. /Dcastor 01:59, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Etymology
It says in the opening of the article that Klarälven is Swedish for Clear River. Though this is true, I wonder if someone has proof showing that it is exactly that meaning which is the source of the name. In one of the references given in the article, from Värmland's museum, a quotation from 1832 uses the name Clara elf. Not being a linguistic expert I suppose that Clara elf at that time might have had a number of meanings:
- Clear river, from the Swedish adjective klar=clear (pl. klara)
- River of Clara, using the female name Clara, known in Sweden since the 15:th century
- Ready river, from the Swedish adjective klar=ready, done (pl. klara)
- River of ability, from the Swedish verb klara=manage, be able to
I do find the first meaning most plausible, followed by the second one, but for it to be given as the meaning of the name, it would be good to know that it actually is the etymologically correct description. (The true origin may ofc not even be among the alternatives listed by me here.) /Dcastor 02:34, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
- The meaning "Clear River" has now been confirmed with a printed source in the Swedish article. /Dcastor 14:35, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
