Danube once appears as the mother of Vrtra, "a dragon blocking the course of the rivers." The Finnish word for Danube is Tonava, which is most likely derived from the word for the river in Swedish and German, "Donau". Its Sámi name "Deatnu" means "Great River". It is possible that "dānu" in Scythian as in Avestan was a generic word for "river": "Dnieper" and "Dniestr", from "Danapris" and "Danastius", are presumed to continue Scythian "*dānu apara" "far river" and "*dānu nazdya-" "near river", respectively. The river was known to the ancient Greeks as the "Istros" (Ἴστρος) a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian
Battle of the Danube Battle of the Danube The Battle of Slobozia, Battle of the Danube or Kutuzov's Danube Operation occurred after the Russian victory at Rousse which took place on 22 June 1811. After the Russian victory, Mikhail Kutuzov ordered his forces to cross the Danube to Bessarabia. This odd retreat made the Turks think that they won: a big party was held in Constantinople to celebrate the Turks' "victory". Tsar Alexander I became very angry and demanded an explanation. However, Kutuzov had a secret plan behind that strange act and he decided to keep quiet for a while. Seeing that the Russians