| First let me explain why this site is called "Wurzel's World". "Wurzel" is what my parents have been calling me, even before I was born. My mother thought I looked like a "Wurzelzwerg" (German expression, translated: "carrot gnome") on the first ever picture that showed my existence.
But "Wurzel" cannot be an official name (or can it?). So my parents came up with two other names for me: one old and one new.
Boreas
Boreas is the name of the god of the northern wind in the Greek mythology. But how did my parents get to such a name?
Well, my father wanted to call me "Zephyra" (after the Greek god of the western wind "Zephyrus") would I have been a girl. So he contacted his former teacher of classical languages Mr. Paul Smudde, for some fancy references to Zephyrus in Greek texts. Mr. Smudde was all too happy to help his former student, but my father warned him that my parents still didn't know whether I would be a girl or a boy and therefore maybe his effort would be useless.
In reply to that Mr. Smudde suggested Boreas as a boy's name, because in Greek texts Zephyrus and Boreas often cooperate. My parents had some alternatives for boy names but were still indecisive and so they were happy to pick up this suggestion. There you have it!
For more information about Boreas see either Mythography or the Theoi Project.
Dweezil
Where my first name is a rather old name, the second one is rather new (1969 to be precise). Dweezil of course, is the name of Frank Zappa's elder son. Check out the original Dweezil's web site.
Dweezil is also phonologically close to Wurzel, as least as close as my parents could find a name. So now you know the origins of my second name as well. |
