The name "Livonia" represents a regrettable chapter in the history of both linguistics and historical scholarship. This medieval region, encompassing parts of modern-day Latvia and Estonia, is traditionally said to have derived its name from the "Liv" tribe, purportedly mentioned in the Primary Chronicle. However, a closer examination reveals no such reference in the chronicle. Instead, the tribe’s name is recorded as lyub (любь), not liv. It is perplexing that translators—working from Russian to Russian, no less—failed to accurately transcribe the name, a task that required little more than copying the original text.
Among these translators was the esteemed Dmitry Likhachev, yet even he and his colleagues appear to have been influenced by a preconceived desire to align the name with the familiar term "Livonia," which was in common use at the time of translation. This bias is evident in their apparent refusal to trust the clear evidence before them: the word lyub appears as the first word in the ninth line from the bottom of the manuscript image. Correcting this mistranslation transforms "Livonia" into Lubonia, and consequently, the "Livonian Order" becomes the Lubonian Order.
The Kartvelian origins of this Baltic Lubonia are further supported by linguistic evidence from the so-called "Liv" language, which contains at least two words that align with Kartvelian vocabulary: tika, meaning "goat" (compare to Kartvelian tkha for "goat"), and tola, meaning "winter" or "snow" (compare to Kartvelian tovli for "snow"). These lexical parallels suggest a deep Kartvelian influence in the region, challenging the traditional narrative surrounding the origins of Livonia and highlighting the need for a reevaluation of its historical and linguistic roots.
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