Editing Varna, Bulgaria (section)

== Etymology ==
[[File:Night shot of Varna.jpg|thumb|Varna at night]]
[[File:Lighthouse Varna,Bulgaria.jpg|thumb|Lighthouse in Varna]]

[[Theophanes the Confessor]] first mentions the name ''Varna'', as the city came to be known, within the context of the [[Slavs|Slavic]] conquest of the [[Balkans]] in the 6th to 7th centuries. The name could be of [[Varangian]] origin, as Varangians had been crossing the Black Sea for many years, reaching [[Constantinople]] in the early Middle Ages. In [[Swedish language|Swedish]], ''värn'' means 'shield, defense'&nbsp;– hence Varna could mean 'defended, fortified place'. Vikings invaded the settlement during the Middle Ages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnews.bg/article-78482|title=Monument of the Vikings to be built near Varna|publisher=bnews.bg|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120122750/http://www.bnews.bg/article-78482|archive-date=20 January 2015|access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref> The name may be older than that; perhaps it derives from the [[Proto-Indo-European root]] ''*u̯er-'' 'to flow, wet, water, river'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE575.html |title=w-r- ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition''. 2000 |publisher=Bartleby.com |access-date=6 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124172602/http://bartleby.com/61/roots/IE575.html |archive-date=24 January 2009 }}</ref><ref>Gerhard Köbler: ''Indogermanisches Wörterbuch''. Fünfte Auflage, 2014 ([http://www.koeblergerhard.de/idgwbhin.html Online] {{webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110223221231/http://www.koeblergerhard.de/idgwbhin.html |date=23 February 2011 }}).</ref> (cf. [[Varuna]]), or from the [[Proto-Slavic]] root ''varn'' 'black', or from [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] ''bar'' or ''var'' 'camp, fortress' (see also [[Etymological list of provinces of Bulgaria]]).

According to Theophanes, in 680 [[Asparuh of Bulgaria|Asparukh]], the founder of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]], routed an army of [[Constantine IV]] near the Danube River delta. Pursuing those forces, he reached "the so-called Varna near Odyssos {{sic}} and the midlands thereof" (τὴν λεγομένην Βάρναν, πλησίον Ὀδυσσοῦ). Perhaps the new name applied initially to an adjacent river or lake, a Roman military camp, or an inland area, and only later to the city itself.

By the late 10th century, the name ''Varna'' was established so firmly that when Byzantines wrested back control of the area from the Bulgarians around 975, they kept it rather than restoring the ancient name ''Odessos''.