[gothic-l] Re: Gothic religion and magic-1

[hakangot]

--- In gothic-l at y..., "hrafnsnest" <hrafn at g...> wrote:

Hi Jeff and all!
I think that you could be right on this. H]aljorunas-alruna could 
have the same origin. One alternative could be that Haljo-comes from 
a form of "hell". And -runa meaning secret, "hell´s secret". But 
everything is possssible I think that you might be on to something 
interesting.


Håkan Liljeberg

> Hail All!
>   I have, over the past few months, pretty much have been taking in 
> all of the various topics on this list.  I find it very 
informative, 
> especially Bertils postings of the etymology of the word Eruli.  I 
> shall attempt, over the next few months, to post material on the 
> general subject of Gothic religion and magic.  This is an area 
which 
> is often either dismissed or avoided.  Granted, some of the 
> conclusions are controversial, but that's what makes the discussion 
> interesting and informative. 
> 
>  Jordanes chp. 24, who, in accounting for the origin of the Huns, 
> relates that a group of witches ([H]aljorunas ~ al. alyrunas, 
> aliorunas, aliuruncas) were thrown out of the Gothic kingdom, 
engaged 
> in "unspeakable" rituals with "demons" of the Russian steppes, and 
> gave birth to them.  This legend alone, must have had an 
interesting 
> influence on the relationship between the Goths and Huns.
> 
>  Aurinia (Alirunais, Alrun, Alraun), a "wise-woman" is said to have 
> been famous in Germany before Veleda, and equally significant, the 
ON 
> name Ölrûn, Sæm. 133-4, belongs to a wise-woman, or more precisely, 
a 
> wise valkyrie. 
> 
>  It is interesting to note that in modern Icelandic the word for 
> Mandrake is -Thjofarot- "the thief's root", and is believed to grow 
> from the blood or urine from a hanged thief under the spot where a 
> gallows once stood. In ON the mandrake was called -ölrun-, and in 
OHG 
> it is -alruna-. 
>   Two Old French sources tell how the mandrake plucker dies upon 
> hearing the scream of the plant as it is being plucked. Several 
> researchers have taken this "formula" and applied it to the ritual 
> hanging rites performed in ancient times, whereby the initiant is 
> hung upside down over the -alrune-, between Asgardhr and 
Midhgardhr, 
> it is taken up screaming, he/she "dies" and is "reborn" with the 
> mysteries revealed.
>  Alruna, now Alraun(e), has semantically shifted from the wise-
woman 
> (or witch) to the plant, now used by the witch.  It also has 
possible 
> connections with the ON word "alu".
> 
> Sources for this info. will be gladly posted.
> Jeff


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