[gothic-l] Re: Gothic Gods

[Seth Estlow]

Actually, with "Mena" I was looking for the Gothic name for Mani, 
the moon god. His name literally translates to "moon" so I suppose 
what I need is the Gothic word for moon. I would appreciate it if 
someone would tell me what the word is. Thank you for all the 
information, I really appreciate it.

--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "llama_nom" <600cell at o...> wrote:
> 
> 
> They look fine to me, except that Old Norse -a in feminine and 
> neuter weak nouns = Go. -o.  'Sunno' "sun" is attested 3 times in 
> this form, once as a feminine accusative: sunnon seina, and twice 
as 
> a ?masculine/neuter dative 'sunnin'.  Wright reconstructs the 
latter 
> as masc. *sunna, but Braune/Helm suggests that a neuter 
> alternative 'sunno' would be a more likely, given the similarity 
to 
> the feminine form, and maybe the influence of neuter 'sauil' "sun".
> 
> 'Mena' I don't recognise, but ON 'Menja' I would guess could be 
Go. 
> *Manjo.  Likewise Fenja, *Fanjo.  Any connection with the Matronae 
> Aufanie, Germanic goddesses to whom many Roman Age inscriptions 
are 
> dedicated?
> 
> OE Eastre (in Bede's Northumbrian Eostre), OHG Ostara (long 'o') 
=  
> Go. *Austro < Gmc. *Austron.  Her feast, like Yule, would be 
plural: 
> Go. *Austrons, cf. New High German Ostern.
> 
> Nairyus, Wulthus.  *Nairþus, Wulþus.  As you're probably aware, 
the 
> <y> and <th> in your spellings stand for the same sound, = <th> in 
> English 'thin', represented in the Gothic alphabet with a 
character 
> that looks like the Greek letter psi.
> 
> 'Enguz' is the form in the Vienna-Salzburg codex, the final <z> 
> being an Old High German spelling of [s], as in English "sea".  In 
> Wulfilan spelling this would probably be *Iggws = *Ingws < Gmc. 
> *Ingwaz.
> 
> Connected with Ing in the OE rune poem are the Heardingas, whose 
> name appears in ON as the legendary twins the Haddingjar, and in 
> Roman writers as the Astingi, the Vandal dynasty who conquered 
North 
> Africa.  Go. *Hazdiggos = Hazdingos.  Regarding these twin gods, 
see 
> Tacitus 43 on the Alci.  Their individual names are known only in 
> connection with the Vandals: *Rafts "beam", *Raus "reed" (recorded 
> in Greek as Raptos, Raos).  For possible archeological evidence of 
> the cult of the twins among the Naharvali, see HR Ellis Davidson, 
> Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, p. 169.  Jakob Grimm saw this 
> tribe, also given as Nahanarvali, as being named after a goddess, 
> positing a Gothic *Nawarne-haleis, the people of *Nawarns or 
> *Nawairns.  Nawarns would then be a goddess of death, cf. Gothic 
> naus corpse (ON nár, OE ne) < Germanic *nawiz, and Lith. nahwe 
> (f.) 'death'.  If that's right, the *Nawairns might make more 
sense 
> as the Go. form.  According to Grimm, this deity would be the 
> etymological and spiritual precursor of the norns, known to us 
from 
> the later Norse mythology.  But I've no idea if there's anything 
in 
> all this speculation, or whether this ending -rnaz is attested 
> elsewhere.  I haven't seen such an explanation of ON 'norn' 
> elsewhere.  Could be *Nawairns is a product of philological 
> mythology?  Very likely a coincidence (or maybe this was what gave 
> Grimm the idea), but there was a Russian death goddess Nav, and an 
> Old Bohemian (Czech) Navaza, listed in the Mater Verborum gloss 
> among the demons of plague.
> 
> I'd also like to propose *Auzawandils (or *Auzawandila?), as a 
> Gothic equivalent of ON Aurvandill whose frozen toe was thrown 
into 
> the sky by Thor to become a star -- Venus?  (OE 
Earendel 'brightest 
> of angels', German Orendel the mariner, ON Vandill the sea-king, 
> Danish Orvendill the father of Ambløthæ = Hamlet; Langobardic 
> Auriwandalo).  Interpretations of this name have been varied.  The 
> second element is probably cognate with the name of the Vandal 
> tribe.  The first is disputed.  Theories mentioned by Rudolf 
Simek's 
> Dictionary of Northern Mythology include links with ON aurr 
('gold' 
> related to Latin aureus), giving a meaning 'golden' or 'bright 
> Vandal' or 'ray of light' (with the second element from ON vöndr, 
> staff); or ON aurr 'wet gravel'; all highly speculative.  Jakob 
> Grimm saw it as 'arrow' (ON örr, Gothic arhvazna), since 
Orvendill's 
> father in Saxo is Gervendill, 'spear Vandal' -- but this etymology 
> seems particularly strained.  I don't know if anyone else has 
> suggested the following, but my guess is that the original 
Germanic 
> form was actually *Auza-wandilaz, with the first element from the 
> Indo-European root aus- 'dawn' (found in English east, Latin 
aurora, 
> Sanskrit usha).  This suggests a meaning 'dawn-wanderer' or 'dawn-
> turner', an appropriate name for the morning star.  Maybe *wandil- 
> meant 'planet' too (cf. Greek. asteres planetai 'wandering stars' 
> and Latin stellae errantes, with the same meaning).  Could 
> Gervendill (there is a cognate Old High German personal name: 
> Kerwentil recorded) have been the evening star?  The Gothic form 
> would be *Gaizawandils.
> 
> Llama Nom








------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease?
Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/rkgkPB/UOnJAA/Zx0JAA/wWMplB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>. 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gothic-l/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    gothic-l-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/