Etymology of Denmark

There are also a number of references to various Dani people in Scandinavia or other places in Europe in Greek and Roman accounts (like Ptolemy, Jordanes, and Gregory of Tours), as well as some medieval literature (like Adam of Bremen, Beowulf, Widsith and Poetic Edda).

Most handbooks derive[3] the first part of the word, and the name of the people, from a word meaning "flat land", related to German Tenne "threshing floor", English den "low ground", Sanskrit dhánus- (धनुस् "desert") [Sanskrit dhánus means 'bow', survived by its modern usage in Hindi].

The -mark means woodland or borderland (see marches), with probable references to the border forests in south Schleswig,[4] comparable to Finnmark, Telemark, or Dithmarschen.

Rather he tells that England ultimately derives its name from Dan’s brother Angel (Angul), the namesake of the Angles people.

The earliest mention of a territory called "Denmark" is found in King Alfred the Great's modified translation into Old English of Paulus Orosius' Seven Books of History Against The Pagans ("Historiarum adversum Paganos Libri Septem"), written by Alfred while he was king of Wessex in the years 871–899.