Names and Etymology
The names are held to derive from Common Germanic *nikwus or *nikwis(i), derived from PIE *neigw ("wash"). It is related to Sanskrit nḗnēkti ("wash"), Greek νίζω nízō and νίπτω níptō, and Irish nigther.
The form neck appears in English and Swedish (näck or nek). The Swedish form is derived from Old Swedish neker, which corresponds to Old Icelandic nykr (gen. nykrs), and nykk in Norwegian Nynorsk. In Finnish, the word is näkki. In Old Danish, the form was nikke and in modern Danish and Norwegian Bokmål it is nøk(ke). The Icelandic nykur is a horselike creature.
In Middle Low German, it was called necker and in Middle Dutch nicker (c.f. also Nickel or Nikkel" plus Kobolt) . The Old High German form nihhus also meant "crocodile", while the Old English nicor could mean both a "water monster" and a "hippopotamus".
Common bynames are the Swedish Strömkarlen and the Norwegian Fossegrim. Since the Scandinavian version can transform himself into a horse-like kelpie, he is also called Bäckahästen (the "brook horse").
Read more about this topic: Neck (water Spirit)
Famous quotes containing the words names and/or etymology:
“Every man who has lived for fifty years has buried a whole world or even two; he has grown used to its disappearance and accustomed to the new scenery of another act: but suddenly the names and faces of a time long dead appear more and more often on his way, calling up series of shades and pictures kept somewhere, “just in case” in the endless catacombs of the memory, making him smile or sigh, and sometimes almost weep.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)