Names and Etymology
The names are held to derive from Common Germanic *nikwus or *nikwis(i), derived from PIE *neigw ("wash"). It is related to Sanskrit nḗnēkti ("wash"), Greek νίζω nízō and νίπτω níptō, and Irish nigther.
The form neck appears in English and Swedish (näck or nek). The Swedish form is derived from Old Swedish neker, which corresponds to Old Icelandic nykr (gen. nykrs), and nykk in Norwegian Nynorsk. In Finnish, the word is näkki. In Old Danish, the form was nikke and in modern Danish and Norwegian Bokmål it is nøk(ke). The Icelandic nykur is a horselike creature.
In Middle Low German, it was called necker and in Middle Dutch nicker (c.f. also Nickel or Nikkel" plus Kobolt) . The Old High German form nihhus also meant "crocodile", while the Old English nicor could mean both a "water monster" and a "hippopotamus".
Common bynames are the Swedish Strömkarlen and the Norwegian Fossegrim. Since the Scandinavian version can transform himself into a horse-like kelpie, he is also called Bäckahästen (the "brook horse").
Read more about this topic: Neck (water Spirit)
Famous quotes containing the words names and/or etymology:
“If goodness were only a theory, it were a pity it should be lost to the world. There are a number of things, the idea of which is a clear gain to the mind. Let people, for instance, rail at friendship, genius, freedom, as long as they will—the very names of these despised qualities are better than anything else that could be substituted for them, and embalm even the most envenomed satire against them.”
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—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)