Talk:Maelstrom

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[edit] Etymology

Why has this word been included in the "Dutch loanwords" Category? I don't see any mention of Dutch in the article! --JillesOldenbeuving 23:03, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

If you go back into the article history, you'll find a more correct reference to the Dutch origin of the word. I've also checked a couple of Swedish etymological dictionaries; and they both describe the Swedish malström as undisputedly borrowed from Dutch. The oldest known appearance of the word in the Swedish language is from 1698.
The trouble is, that Poe's story has made such an impact, that most people do not know that there ever was other maelstroms than Poe's. Since Poe also exaggerated the behaviour of Moskstraumen a bit, we now have a split between the "literary maelstroms" and the "actually existing whirlpools". In particular, Poe borrowed the word from the Danish-Norwegian form of the word, and not all editors of this article respect the fact that the Nordic word in its turn is known to be borrowed from Dutch.
I'll try to correct the article a little, but just once. We'll see how long my changes will remain "undiscorrected" :-) JoergenB 21:25, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
Your reference mentions both Dutch maalstroom and German mahlstrom: enough to overrule the derivation as mentioned in Grottasöngr, but IMHO not enough to claim "known to be borrowed from Dutch". Erik Warmelink (talk) 10:37, 24 February 2008 (UTC)
On the other hand, the Dutch verb malen has taken a secondary meaning ("to turn round and round") which is rather appropiate for a Maelstrom. I don't know whether German or Low Saxon have that secondary meaning too. Erik Warmelink (talk) 11:00, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

The word maalstroom is contemporary Dutch. The verb malen means to grind. The word stroom means flow or stream. Even the combination is contemporary Dutch. I assume that the word hasn't changed since then. Greetings, Roger Jeurissen.

[edit] Verne's 20,000 Leagues...

There should be a mention of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, where the Nautilus finds the Maelstrom (the Moskstraumen) in the climax of the novel. Nazroon 20:54, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pirates of the Caribbean reference

Why is the film described aas having "visually mesmerizing sequences"? I found them to be technically competent, but they should be described in a more neutral tone

- I agree, also - the galleons were not involved in the fight at all in the maelstrom. They didn't even fight at all, and as such I have removed them.

I think we should delete the POTC CGI whrilpool because this article is about a real thing and not a fictional representation of it. --154.20.34.209 05:50, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Better Image

The image currently used seems somewhat unjust for the phenomena; it's at a bad angle and doesn't reflect the intensity of a Maelstrom. If somebody can find a better image, I'd appreciate them obtaining copyright and using the image here. Neobros 16:52, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Miles Strom from LOST

I think there's a connection--96.229.92.97 (talk) 09:14, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] DAB and dictionary

As far as I can see, the content on this page would be better going over to Wiktionary, and the list being merged with the disambiguation page, since it is essentially a badly formatted DAB page as it is. Opinions? Volunteers? Sadly at present I don't have the time to sort and prune a DAB page myself, although I'll add it to my to-do list if it doesn't get done in a few months. me_and (talk) 23:21, 4 May 2008 (UTC)