[gothic-l] Goths, Eruls and Scandinavian Southeast Europe Contacts

[Bertil Haggman]

One of the leading modern experts on the Eruli,
Marvin Taylor, has concluded that a meaning
of the Eruli cannot be reconstructed on Germanic
evidence alone. So he has also taken a look at
IE etymology.

The name, according to Taylor is relatedto the jarl
and rilaR. The close relationship most likely
points to a single etymology. The current etymology
of eruli has been advanced in its essential more
than 150 years ago. The meaning is uncertain.
There is an extensive literature of its own on the
relation between Eruli and (ek) erilaR.

The gloss form of eruli could be interpreted in
two ways. One explanation has it related to
erlo (Piedmont), 'arrogant'. Another explanation
is that it is a corruption of erili, the dative/ablative
singular of erilis.

The root could be *er- with the basic word *erula-,
*erila-. *erla-. A relation is probable with Old Nordic
jara < Old Nordic *eron-, 'battle'. Other words rooted
in *er- are Old Nordic ern, 'strong'. Compare *eron- to
Old Indian sam-ara, 'battle'.

Bertil Haggman

> The word erila and irila appears 7 or 8 times on rune-stones and
> other implements in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Its most likely
> meaning is believed to be 'free man, or noble man'. Note it is also
> present in such names like 'Erlwin', 'Erlfried' etc.. The name Eruli
> may be linked to the 'erila' name in the sense that it may derive
> from the same root and general meaning, but the inscriptions probably
> don't refer to Heruls, but to the name or title of 'free man'. This
> would also be underscored by the very wide geographical distribution
> of the inscriptions.



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