Etymology of Resdayn and its names

Llevndryn · November 2015

This document is part of the library of the dunmeri House Arador Dayn.

Etymology of Resdayn and its names
by Llevndryn Sershilavu of House Arador Dayn

Let me reflect briefly while in most of the old library materials of Mournhold I encounter the name of Resdayn rather than the now more commonly used of Morrowind.

It is curious that the etymology of the name of our land was vaguely lost over the centuries. Some scholars see this change in language during the first eruption of Red Mountain.* His ashy winds will then have changed the identity of the country, breaking into the mouths of its people to shape the breath of their words.

If the name that is now more easily given to this region evokes its winds and the mood of the sky, perhaps that is also because it was easier to pronounce for the growing number of n'wah in the mainland.

Still, the roots of the name Resdayn got a little lost over the years. If -DAYN is clearly identifiable as the word Dawn as we still use it, it may not be wise to stop there so soon. Indeed, it is strange that it should be associated in this way in the word and could quite designate anything else.

It is perhaps a coincidence that shows -AYN where several other roots may be. -AYN for example is not unlikely, as it can be found in the word aynad (call) or cornayn (battle call) which focus on the action to call, to attract attention; or when it is left alone, ayn which is our word for the opposite of right and whose function here is to indicate a direction.

The rest of the word may also be composed in several ways. First, to finish with the tail of the word, -YN can be assumed as such and, as at the end of eyn (right), can then take the steering function without specifying the direction. -DA should then be picked apart and could designate the current or liquid as in our words Foyada (fire river) and ouada (river). -SDA and -ESDA not being found in any of our words, we can remove these possibilities, unless the roots are rooted in some forgotten words, in what cases we lack sources.

Remains -RES or -RES. The second seems to be the most appropriate since it is a known root of our language. It can be found in the word resdul (fable) and seems to embrace the idea of storytelling, tale.

Three etymologies therefore detached from the name Resdayn. The first one, using the combined roots -RESD and -DAYN could be interpreted as « The Fable of Dawn » or « What Dawn tells ». The second one, taking -RESD as a basis and -AYN for a suffix, could give « The Call of the Myth » The last one, using the roots -YN -RESD and -DA, could be read as « Where flows the Tale » and a few might even say it as « There where the stories get lost ».

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* A Pocket Guide to The Empire and its environs, First Edition

Llevndryn · November 2015

off-RP wrote:

As talked on the french thread, Morrowind may probably be a translation of Resdayn into cyrodiilic. We have then RE for wind, S as a decorative letter and DAYN for morrow, a synonyme of dawn.