Suur-Paala (Suur-Paala)

Greater/Upper Paala. Paala / Pala is said to be a river or location some 11 km N of Viljandi, often claimed as Vanamõisa, and site of the Madisepäeva lahing (St-Matthews’s day battle, 1217-09-21) where Lembit, unwisely, lost his head. Paala / Pala, however, is a bit of an issue, and open to various interpretations. It could be: 1) today: one of the earlier names (another, believe it or not, being Vorsti, or ‘sausage’ river) of Põltsamaa river (ultimately making it a tributary of Emajögi [lit. mother river] which meanders due east from Võrtsjärv [järv = lake] through oxbows, meadows and Tartu city center to empty into lake Peipsi and, at its closest, about 30 km from Vanamõisa); 2) yesterday: an alternative or misidentification of Navesti, river or village (both of which are 20-odd km north of Vanamõisa). For both of these, we have a problem. Probably that of physical and mental distance from the event, or misrecollection, or error. Medieval satnav meant gazing at the stars and hoping it’s not too cloudy (it was); 3) Henry of Livonian Chronicle fame states that after the battle, “the army marched into Pala, Lembit’s village” (he also puts Pala into 2 different counties). It gets much more convoluted than that, but the important thing is not to read too much into historical ‘records’, where even naming it a ‘record’ gives it authority. Often, it’s just guys selling a story and the details didn’t always matter. Let’s move on. Street close to Sõjamäe, site of yet another battle. Suur-Paala’s previous names, respectively Suur-Poltava, Große Poltawsche Straße and Большая Полтавская ул., commemorated the decisive victory of Russia over Sweden in the Battle of Poltava on 1709-06-27 during the Great Northern War, heralding the rise of Russian Imperialism and decline of Swedish power. One of those interesting name-changes where both the topic (a battle) and sound of the name were similar enough for a quick nationalistic make-over. And why not? See Väike-Paala.