O Słowiance Wandzie, co nie chciała Niemca
About a Slav Girl Who Would not Wed a German

Summary/Abstract: The name Wanda is reconstructed in etymological dictionaries as {*vǫda} i.e. in the same way as the Old Polish word ‘wędka’ (fishing rod). Personal names stemming from the names of tools were known in these times, yet only as male ones. Such an interpretation was used at the time when the name {Wenedowie} became obsolete and was used only in relation to Slavs. However, until the present times the names stemming from the root {*Vend-} are the names of Russians in Finnish languages and they are also known in German relating to Lusatians and Slovenians. Historically, they are all attested for the whole population of Slovenia, Pomerania and for Slavs living in Germanic countries. Wincenty Kadłubek wrote his {Polish Chronicle} in 12th century i.e. when the monarchs of Poland made wars with their German neighbours. Therefore, he might have felt the calling, also as a clergyman, for writing a didactic and moralistic tale of ‘Wanda who would not wed a German’.

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