: As for Myrgard, my guess would be that this is a
: mispronounciation of "Mire", another word
: for "swamp", as might be suggested by all
: those brownish, fetid pools and straggly grasses
: growing on their banks that you see in the beginning
: of "Sons of Myrgard". If this theory is
: correst, therefore, Myrgard would translate roughly as
: "The Gargen of Swamp", or "The Lands of
: Swamp"- which actually seems quite reasonable,
: since, in mountainous areas, having a swamp near you
: provides a very good source of food, like freshwater
: shrimp, watercress, etc. to supplement the normal diet
: of mushrooms. Also, if you drain a swamp, you actually
: end up with pretty decent farmland, although it must
: be assumed that, if this is the case, the swamplands
: outside Myrgard flooded again during the Ghol
: occupation due to years of neglect.
Just to interject: although "garden" is a cognate of the Old Norse "gard," the two words aren't synonymous; "gard" has much more to do with "guard" meaningwise. "Gard" generally means some sort of habitation and/or cultivated region (a farming complex or a town, usually) enclosed by defensive walls. So if you're trying to work out possible meanings for, say, Myrgard, it's probably better to go with "---- Town" or even "---- Keep" than "---- Garden." :-)
--SiliconDream
