# Muorimets



## rushalaim

Russians have a fairy hero. Do Finnish have any meaning in "muorimets" or "muurimets"?


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## Määränpää

Well, "metsä" is a forest, so "muorimetsä" could mean "old woman forest" and "muurimetsä" could mean "wall forest".

But if you're talking about the name of Ilya Muromets, isn't "-ets" just an ordinary Russian/Slavic suffix?


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## rushalaim

Right, that hero. But Russian have the meaning "murova" like "grass". Does Finnish have similar meaning?
Muromalaiset – Wikipedia


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## etrade

No


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## DrWatson

Actually there is. Finnish etymological dictionary lists a dialectal word _muro _with the meaning 'chickweed' (in modern Finnish _pihatähtimö _or _vesiheinä_). In Estonian _muru _means 'grass, lawn'. Its etymology is unclear: possible origins given in the book are Germanic (< *_mūrō(n)_, cf. Dutch _muur _'chickweed') or Russian _muravá_. There appears to be no link to Muromians, however.


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## rushalaim

Russians have similar word [_murovei_] _"ant"_, the insect living in _"murova"_-grass?
Do you think, _"muromets"_ derived from the Murom-town?
I assume, that is the late Christian fairy-tale not pagan. Maybe 3 heroes there represent Belorussians, Ukrainians and Finnish (Novgorod) people who all three made "Russians" the nation to struggle with the enemy.


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