Vihu (Vihk)

1) Sheaf (usually harvested cereals, but also leaves, etc.), probably related to viht:viha, the sauna birch-twig whisk (which shares the same Proto-Germanic origin (*wisk-), and vihisema (to whistle, sough, swish), possibly reflecting the sound made by the scythe as it mows the grass or cereal. For those less intimate with harvesting, the sequence goes like this: the corn, or other crop is scythed, the resulting swathe of cereal is gathered and tied into sheaves; the sheaves are then bundled and stacked into stooks (caution, stack and stook are partial synonyms); the stooks then stooked into stacks, cocks or ricks. (In Eng., there is considerable overlap in hay-stacking terms: cock, rick, shock and stook, with or without a preceding ‘hay’, and the situation is similar in Est. see Auna, Haki, Kahlu, Kuhja, Nabra), all of which end their miserable lives in hamburger buns for which – and I shit you not – there is a futures’ market for unsold waste. I shall avoid all reference to farmers of yesteryear ‘just doing it’ and ‘swoosh’. 2). Book part, installment or fascicle. Part of a harvest street-name group. See Hargi.