Fòram na Gàidhlig

German scholar H. Petersmann has proposed a rather different interpretation of the theology of Neptune.[52] Developing his understanding of the theonym as rooted in IE *nebh, he argues that the god would be an ancient deity of the cloudy and rainy sky in company with and in opposition to Zeus/Jupite...

So, now. In Portugal, the .um. port of Balsa may be named from Baal Saphon, god of storms. There is a shrine on the mountain top to Zephyr the storm wind, like Baal of storms. Sailors are guided by the lighthouse there built by Rome. Portuguese "balsa" means a river-raft or river-boat. Als...

Sanskrit root: balh , बल्ह : to be pre-eminent , Skr बलिन् balin m. : soldier Hebrew בעל (Ba‘al, "Baal", and ba‘al, "lord, husband"), from Proto-Semitic *baʿl- ‎(“owner, lord, husband”). Again, "strong : storm" may or may not be linked. "Pre-eminent : soldier : lor...

If ON balkr is a " furrow between 2 banks", then a plural may be formed, with root *bhelg or *bal. So bulkhead is usually meaning several in a boat, or beams / walls in a house. But "cloud-bank" is not really meaning "rainfall". Old Norse. Suffix -ar : plural , possessi...

From this distance (in Oz ) I noticed a pic of Norway with a solid bank of storm clouds. Old English balca "ridge, bank," from or influenced by Old Norse balkr "ridge of land," especially between two plowed furrows, both from Proto-Germanic *balkon- (cognates: Old Saxon balko, Da...

Mhaioneach bhainneach , gruthach, mhaoisleach, shlamanach , uanach , uachdarach , mhiosganach are good for you. But A Bhealtuinn bailceach is not. Who needs more rain after winter? " Bailc " may derive from ON balkr storm which is not from root *bal - "strong". Possibly the Norse...