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
Army of the Danube (1806–1812) Army of the Danube (1806–1812) The Army of the Danube (or Danube Army; alternately the Army of Moldavia) () was a field army of the Russian Empire, created for the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812. Commanded by Admiral Pavel Chichagov from May 1812, it merged with the Third Reserve Army of Observation to form the Third Western Army in September during the French invasion of Russia. The Army of the Danube ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812 on the Danube; its commander-in-chief, General of the infantry Mikhail Kutuzov, signed the peace treaty ending the war at Bucharest on . Admiral Pavel