Etymology
It is probably the same as Vala, the enemy of Vedic thunder-god Indra, and to Vels or Velinas, a devil of Baltic mythology and enemy of Baltic thunder-god Perkūnas, as well as Nordic Vǫlsi "priapus". One possibility is that the name derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *wel-, meaning wool (if so, the English word "wool" would actually be fairly closely related to the name of this god). "Volos" is also the Russian word for "hair." This seems logical, since Veles was believed to be the deity of a horned cattle.
The name may also be related to Slavic terminology for oxen, for which the South Slavs and Russians all use "вол/vol."
Read more about this topic: Veles (god)
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
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—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“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)