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
The Red Danube The Red Danube The Red Danube is a 1949 American drama film directed by George Sidney and starring Walter Pidgeon. The film was based on the 1947 novel "Vespers in Vienna" by Bruce Marshall. In Rome shortly after World War II, British Col. Michael "Hooky" Nicobar (Walter Pidgeon) is expecting a transfer home when he is instead posted to Vienna with his aides Junior Commander Audrey Quail (Angela Lansbury), Major John "Twingo" McPhimister (Peter Lawford) and Private David Moonlight (Melville Cooper). Hooky is assigned to assist Brigadier C.M.V. Catlock (Robert Coote) in monitoring possible "subversive activities" against the Allied nations