From: esquel@sommarskog.se   
      
   Dan Tilque (dtilque@frontier.com) writes:   
   > The equivalent in English is Charles' Wain or Charles' Wagon (wain is an   
   > old term for wagon). Could also be Carl's Wain. Those are old names that   
   > go back much further than the Big Dipper or Plough (British name for   
   > it). According to Wikipedia, Carl/Charles is a modification of "churl",   
   > an old Germanic word for man. Thus it was the man's wagon, while the   
   > Little Dipper is the women's wagon.   
   >   
      
   To make it even more intricate, it would be the men's wagon. To wit "karl"   
   in Swedish both name (same as Charles) and a word for "man" (but more   
   colourful than just "man"). The -a is the old inflexion for genitive   
   plural, no longer in use as such, but remaining in some compounds and   
   fixed expressions.   
      
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