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Anni (And)
Gift, present, talent, endowment. The gift here apparently was sacrificial... Renamed (1979-1994/5) as Kullmani L. during the Soviet occupation. Part of a magico-mythological group. See Arbu.
Artelli (Artell)
‘Artel’, direct transcription of Rus. арте́ль, a workers’ guild or association, general term for various semi-formal cooperative associations in Russia and its sphere of influence from 1860ish to 1960ish, pretty much dead nowadays, despite its use in business names à la Hansa. Activities ranged from fishing and art, to stevedoring and thieving. Etymology very uncertain: Italian artiere, artisan has been suggested, but probably fortuitous. Vasmer seems to prefer either Tuvan урталай (urtalai), or Kipchak (Tatar or Bashkir) арт ил (art il), people in the rear, or reserve. The question remains open.
Arbu (Arp)
Word with twofold, connected meaning: ‘lot’ (i.e. something drawn at random) and magic, contrivance. In Saaremaa and probably other areas too, when common land was shared among villagers, the plots were distributed by lots (cf. alloting, allotment). Arb:arva was the term for the narrow plot used in strip-farming, which, given the chance involved in terms of quality, location, farmability, etc., understandably evolved into its later meaning (but might it have been the other way round?). A similar relationship exists between English ‘lot’ (chance) and ‘lot’ (of land). Arbujad (sorcerers, soothsayers, shamans) was an influential group of Estonian poets (often called ‘Magicians of the Word’ in English) created in 1938, whose rather anti-totalitarian attitude did not endear them to the censors. Rebaptized (1979-1995) as Võrgu V. during the Soviet occupation. Part of a magico-mythological group. See Kahu.
