Kuramaa (Kuramaa)

Courland, formerly western part of present-day Latvia, the Curonian Spit. Originally inhabited by the Curonians or Kurs, eventually assimilated by the Latvians and Lithuanians. Raided in the 10^th C by Egil Skallagrimsson, who acquired Naður [...] hið besta vopn (his best weapon, a sword), Adder (note the initial ‘n’ in Old Icelandic; the English lost its ‘n’ from the Middle English ‘naddere’, cognate with the Latin name for ‘snake’, natrix, to become ‘an addere’), and other sundry plunder there. Mentioned too by Saxo Grammaticus, with Frotho I (Frode I), legendary king of Denmark fighting various battles and, in his attack of Handwanus, king of the Daugava valley, even cross-dressing for camouflage as a sköldmö or shield-maiden, one of those occasional but real female warriors (even the legend of Blenda [±500 CE] from southern Småland may be based on truth) that fuelled the Valkyrie myth... former name of Vikerlase.

• Deadname

Kure (Kurg)

Crane and stork. Four species breeding in Estonia:

• Must-toonekurg, black stork, Ciconia nigra
• Neitsikurg, demoiselle crane, Grus virgo
• Sookurg, common crane, G. grus
• Valge-toonekurg, white stork, C. ciconia

The two toonekurgs enjoy special status in Estonian folklore. Where the valge-toonekurg is reputed to protect your house from lightning if it nests there (see Oleviste), the must-toonekurg was less benign: “Kui toonekurg sinu piiri mööda hulgub, siis tähendab, et mõni sureb” (if the black stork lurks around the borders of your land, somebody he gonna die), reflecting man’s atavistic unease with the ‘otherworldliness’ of migratory birds. True to form, toonekurg derives from tooni (forefather, ancestor), probably from toona (before, long ago, etc.), see Toonela. Part of the Lilleküla bird-name group of streets. See also Käbliku.