A concept that fascinates me: etymological continuity in names and words for fictional beings. Nerthus and NjorðR are the same name. The alfR of #mythology and Tolkien's elves share a label. But since these beings don't actually exist, it is meaningless to say that there is a single individual or group of beings behind the various forms of the words. There is no empirical reality to check against, unlike for instance when a botanist suggests that a species should be split.
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