As if spilled … The folk etymologies of the names of the Gdańsk district Oliwa

Abstract

The author of the paper describes five non-scientific etymologies of place name Oliwa. They have the following onomastic interpretations: 1. the place where the Pomeranian prince Subisław or Sambor dreamed of St. Mary with Child in the crown of an olive tree or an angel with an olive twig or a Cistercian with an olive twig formed in a cross, and to commemorate that dream the monastery was built’. 2. the town with a monastery whose patron is St. Olive. 3. The place where the chosen nation wondering through the Kashubia, their promised land, still had olive, 4. the place where the Treaty of Oliva was signed, 5. The place where there is a cathedral which looks as if it spilled. They perform explanatory and prestige generating functions.