The Elbląg () is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in northern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

connecting

Lake Drużno A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

with the

Vistula Lagoon The Vistula Lagoon ( pl, Zalew Wiślany; russian: Калининградский залив, transliterated: ''Kaliningradskiy Zaliv''; german: Frisches Haff; lt, Aistmarės) is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 ...

. The city of

Elbląg Elbląg (; german: Elbing, Old Prussian: ''Elbings'') is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 117,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. ...

is situated on the river. Tributaries include: *Fiszewka *Kumiela *Tina The oldest known mention of the river in the form ''Ilfing'' comes from the report of sailor Wulfstan from the end of the 9th century. The report was included in '' The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan'' which was written in Anglo-Saxon in

King Alfred Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

's reign.

Etymology

Latest research suggest Scandinavian origin of the name. According to Elbląg museum the elusive

Truso Truso was a Viking Age port of trade (emporium) set up by the Scandinavians at the banks of the Nogat delta branch of the Vistula River, close to a bay (the modern Drużno lake), where it emptied into the shallow and brackish Vistula Lagoon. This ...

settlement was founded and inhabited mostly by Scandinavians. The recent research shows that the name ''Ilfing'' was Anglo-Saxon form of a Scandinavian name, which could be reconstructed as Old-Nordic ''Elfeng'', ''Elfangr'' or ''Elfing'' from Old-Nordic ''elf-r'' - meaning "river", and Old-Nordic ''eng'', ''enge'', ''engi'' meaning "meadow". The 16th century German pastor, historian and cartographer Caspar Henneberger, wrote in his book ''Erklärung der preußischen größeren Landtafeln oder Mappen'' ("explanation of the larger Prussian maps"): :"Anno 1237. Zog. Herman Balck Landmeister/mit den zwey Schiffen/so ihm der Marggraff Heinrich aus Meissen/hat machen lassen/auf ein Werder in Pogezanien/bey dem Haff gelegen/mit dem Fluss Elbing beflossen/darauff bawet er eine Burg/und hies sie nach dem Fluss Elbing/oder von Oelfang/Eelfang". The theory of the Old Germanic origin of the name Elbing river has been also strongly supported by prominent Polish linguist

Jan Michał Rozwadowski Jan Michał Rozwadowski (7 December 1867 – 13 March 1935) was a Poles, Polish linguist and a professor at the Jagiellonian University. He was also the president of the Polish Academy of Learning. References

1867 births 1935 deaths ...

. Thus the meaning of the river's name would be "River flowing through boggy meadows".R.Panfil, ''Uwagi na temat Truso i jego zaplecza w świetle źródeł'', Elbląskie Studia Muzealne, t. 1, 2009, p. 43.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elblag River Rivers of Poland Rivers of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Elbląg