ORKNEY

Pytheas referred to the archipelago north of Britain as "Orcas". When this word—whatever its original meaning—is rendered into Old Georgian while preserving its plural form, it yields ორქნი [orkni], which corresponds exactly to "Orkney".

And here begins a true linguistic detective story. If the name "Orkney" is Georgian in form, then why shouldn't its root, "orka", also be Georgian?

In Chanturia’s Georgian-English dictionary, there’s an intriguing word: "orkua" (ორქუა), meaning "cape" or "cloak". The presence of the "u" and the final "a" need not be confusing—they likely represent a suffix or the ending of a masdar (verbal noun). The core root is unmistakably "ork".

Now consider this: isn’t "orka" the word used in many languages to mean "killer whale"? And doesn’t the killer whale appear to be wearing a black cape? It does indeed—and not just metaphorically, but scientifically. Marine biologists Evans and Yablokov, in their work Geographic Variation in the Color Pattern of Killer Whales (Orcinus orca), use the term dorsal cape to describe the distinctive coloration pattern of these animals.

So, the word "orka"—despite Georgians having little to no chance of encountering such a creature in the Black Sea—nonetheless appears to be authentically Georgian.