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Varjulille (Varjulill)
Lit. shadow flower: woodruff, squinancy wort, Asperula spp. Name due to former use in treating quinsy, or peritonsillar abscess, a sometime complication of tonsillitis or, for George Washington, possible cause of death (although probable cause was the excessive blood-letting designed to relieve him). Its Estonian name reflects its preference for shady, as well as moist, rich soils.
Varraku (Varrak)
1) Character from the Kalevipoeg: the Lappish sage who agrees to take him to the end of the world. 2) The Viking traders, pirates, mercenaries (to 11th/13th‑C Kievan and Novgorodian princes among others), known mainly as bodyguard to the Byzantine Emperors. Name derived from Varjaag, Estonian for Varangian (Old East Slavic: Varyag). Renamed (1979-1995) as Lumiste J. during the Soviet occupation. Part of a magico-mythological group. See Vikerlase.
Varsaallika (Varsaallikas) 
Foal’s/Colt’s/Filly’s source/spring. Feeds a river which once drained into the Tallinna Laht (Tallinn Bay or Bight). Said to be named after a spring used by local stud farm to water its, er, draught foals. Known as Warthallick (1689) and Warſhallik (1689 & 1726), but has too much the ring of a mondegreen for a now-forgotten personal name, although its definitely Estonian allick[a] ending and the relatively common occurrence of combined German-Estonian names (Biſchofs Koppel, 1726, etc.) leave the question wide open.
Värsi (Värss)
1) Verse; 2) Steer, young bull. Renamed (1940-1941) after Juhan Liiv (1864-1913), poet, dark romantic and, during certain phases of his muddled mental existence, son of Tsar Alexander II, King of Poland, etc. Author of the moving Ta lendab mesipuu poole (paraphrasing: the bee flies back to the hive, a regular pollenizer at the Estonian Song Festival, Laulupeo). Died after being thrown from a train in mid-winter for not having a ticket. They took it so much more seriously in those days. First named as Koidula L. (1926-1959) with whom Liiv also, shall we say, identified. Briefly named Tähelennu (1959-1960), shooting-star or space flight, the space race was on, and changed to this in 1960, along with its parallel of Lauliku, so ‘verse’ it is.







