[gothic-l] Re: Halirunnae in Getica

[Francisc Czobor]

I think that haliu- may be in fact halja "hell"
Thus: halja-runa "hell's whisperer" or something like this.

Francisc

--- In gothic-l at egroups.com, "B. Gendler" <gendler at i...> wrote:
> 
>           Hello Folks,
>   Back in message 746 in the archives, Ïusteinus asked about the 
word
> Halirunnae. This word appears in Jordanes The Getica, where he says 
it is a
> Gothic word for "witch." Nobody responded, so I am going to make 
some
> comments and ask some questions. First off, we know that this word 
probably
> has some basis in Gothic. We can assume this because of the 
component
> "Rune," which fits the context. This word should be familiar to us 
as the
> name of the characters of the early Germanic script, but it was
also 
used in
> connection with magic, mystery, conspiracy and witchcraft. A few 
examples
> follow...
> 
>    Archaic English:
> Roun(d) = to Whisper.
>    Anglo-Saxon:
> Run = Mystery, Secrecy, Secret; Council, Consultation; Runic 
Character.
> Runcræftig = Skilled in Mysteries.
> Reonian = to Conspire, Plot.
> Reonung = Whispering, Conspiracy, Plot.
> Runian = to Whisper, Murmur, Talk Secrets, Conspire.
>    Old Saxon:
> Runa = Secret Plan.
> Runon = to Whisper.
>    Faeroese:
> Run = Runic Character; Witchcraft
> Runa = to Practise Witchcraft.
> Runabinda = to Place a Spell Upon.
>    Old Norse:
> Run(ar) = Secrets, Mysteries, Charms; Runic Character.
> Runa = Whisperer.
>    Norwegian:
> Rune = to Cast Charms and Spells; Engage in Secret Arts; Bewitch, 
Charm.
> Runekall = Sorcerer, Magician.
>    New High German:
> Raunen = to Whisper.
>    Old High German:
> Runa = Secret Plan.
> Giruni = Secret, Mystery.
> Runen = to Whisper Secretly.
>    And finally... Gothic:
> Runa = Secret; Secret Plan; Secret Planning, Secret Council; Secret 
Motive,
> Hidden Motivation.
> 
>      (For a more complete list, check out my etymological studies,
> particularly http://www.panikon.com/phurba/r/rune.html The work 
posted there
> is just the beginning of my work and I welcome comments and 
contributions,
> in private e-mail correspondance, of course (gendler at p...). BTW, 
only
> some of the non-commercial parts of the site are up, most of it, 
including
> all of the commercial parts, are not up yet, give us time.)
> 
>     Now, for the questions, What is the "haliur" part. I first 
thought it
> connected to the root for "holy," but this doesn't seem to make 
sense. First
> off, a witch can only be "holy" in pagan times, at best, but the 
root "holy"
> seems to have only come into parlance with the meaning "holy" in 
Christian
> times. It could be the same root in the meaning of "heal" or 
"healthy." This
> would be a rather positive outlook on "witches," as people who 
practiced
> "healing magic," but that somehow doesn't flow with the
presentation 
of
> Jordanes. Jordanes makes them out to be evil. Then again, Jordanes 
was a
> Christian, wasn't he?
>     Now, given all this, would anybody like to take a stab at 
reconstructing
> the original Gothic form of the word or make any comments on its 
possible
> meaning? Any help would be appreciated.
>             Thanks in advance, Gendler.


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