Reading about Poul Anderson’s treatise on atomic theory written entirely in Anglo-Saxon-derived words (entitled “Uncleftish Beholding”) got me thinking about the etymology of various element names.

Strontium is derived from the town of Strontian in Scotland, which is derived from Scottish Gaelic Sròn an t-Sìthein, meaning “nose of the fairy hill”. (Incidentally, the sídhe are who the Star Wars Sith are derived from. Also, the Sithi from Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams and the Aes Sedai from The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan)

Sodium is derived from soda which is supposedly derived from [suwwad]10 meaning “saltwort”.