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Väike-Sõjamäe (Väike-Sõjamägi)
Southernmost of the three, see Sõjamäe.
Väina (Väin)
Strait (as in Dover), sound, pass. Kalevala hero Väinämöinen’s name is sometimes accused of having originated, in part, from this: the modern-day term for old Finnish väinä is suvanto and one of Väinämöinen’s alternative names is Suvantolainen. Since the 700-year-gestated geriatro-fetus was born of a sea nymph, the strait could be an allegory of the female womb and genitalia (see also Salme for another pass and another Kalevine genetrix). On the other hand, given Finland and Estonia’s obsessive history of folklore research and its seeming absence from former Votic, Mordvin, Ingrian, etc. communities, we are probably working from skewed sources anyway. And whether the word either comes from Finnish väinämö for minstrel, or this and the personal forename Väinämö are simply short forms of Väinämöinen, as Väinö also is, I couldn’t say.
Vainu (Vain)
Grassplot, village green or common. First known as Olga / Ольгинская ул. (Olginskaya) until 1925 (probably unrelated to the earlier name of Pebre, 10 km away), then switched – for reasons of consonance? Olga > Anger – to Angerstraße (village green or common) / Лужаечная ул. (Luzajesnaya, lawn) in 1926, then back to Vainu in 1937. Renamed 1940-1941 as Mõrra. Vain is also a family name and I recommend Peep Vain’s The Most Important Question, from your local bookstore.
Valdeku (Valdek)
Said to be derived from an inn, Waldecki kõrts, on the corner of this street and Männiku. From German Waldeck (edge of the woods), and no relation to Metsanurga M. The ‑eck ending is clearly related to Ger. Ecke (corner) and Eng. ‘edge’, but also its cognate Egge, a multi-forked hoe-like implement for loosening the soil, both derived from the same root *ak- or *ok- producing words indicating sharpness: point, edge, corner, ridge, ‘cutting edge’ of a weapon, e.g. Old English ecg, sword, etc. Swiss (and Austrian?) names such as Eggli, Eggler, etc. tend to refer more to ridges (and so, for those interested in this sort of thing, Arnie’s surname has nothing to do with ‘negros’). Although tempting, there does not seem to be any association with Ger. Eiche, Eichel or Ecker, synonyms for acorn. Street known as Punatähe (Red Star) from 1940-1941. In 1798, the Waldecki kõrts was called Sutlem, see Suklema.