skohls (Was: Re: Hails)

[Valulfr_Vaerulsson at RUNEWOLF.ORG]

Hails Ualarauans,

Thanks for clearing that up, I think I picked up the association from Grimm. 
After looking into this further I found this from the Cleasby-Vigfusson O.Ice.
dictionary - 

SKYRSI, n. [akin to Ulf. skohsl; Germ. scheusal] :-- a portent, phantasm, as
also mischance arising from witchery; þeir þóttusk náliga brenna ok óttuðusk
þann atburð sem skussi (= skyrsi), as a bad omen,.....

Walawulfs



Quoting ualarauans <ualarauans at yahoo.com>:

> --- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "Valulfr Vaerulsson" 
> <Valulfr_Vaerulsson at ...> wrote:
> >
> > I have a question about the etymology of the word 'skohsl', is this a
> > word Ulfilas made up to denote 'a demon', and if not, where does it
> > derive?
> 
> I think he just took the word already existent and changed its 
> meaning. Adding the suffix –sl was not his way of forming new words 
> afaik. It is generally believed that skoh-sl is derived from PIE
> *(s)kek- "to jump", "to move quickly (= to run)", "to shiver"
> (#922 in Pokorny). G. Köbler offers the same etymology.
> Cf. also OSlav. skakati "to jump".
> 
> Looks like Go. skohsl could originally pertain to persons suffering 
> from a certain mental desease, very reminiscent of OIrish geilt and 
> related mythological motifs of "The Wild Man in the Wood". No wonder 
> Wulfila picked up this term to refer to those possessed by the devils 
> (Mt. 8:31) and *running* from the tombs (us hlaiwasnom rinnandans). 
> 
> > In the semantic field, this word came down into Old Norse as
> > 'skógi', or 'forest'.
> 
> Very implausible. Theoretically, it could be vice versa. *Skôgaz > 
> *skôh-sla, that is. "Wood thing" > "wood dweller" = "one banished from 
> the community and living in the periphery", "outlaw". Cf. ON vargr = 
> heiðingi < *heið-gengi, "heath-walker", i.e. "one who dwells in the 
> wasteland".
> 
> > Perhaps it was thought that 'things', spirits
> > and so forth, living in the forest were to be avoided, not sure.
> 
> Forest was thought of as a dangerous place to go, no doubt.
> 
> Ualarauans
> 
> 




-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/gothic-l/attachments/20080203/8901f508/attachment.htm>