Coifi

[David L. White]

        Before I get reaked over the coals for not knowing something that I
do know, speaking of Germanic priests, and whether or not they existed,
there is always Coifi of Bedean fame.  On this I have two questions:

        1)  Since the early Germans presumably did not have priests (except
for mixed "chieftain"-priests as in Iceland, but Coifi was clearly not one
of these), what is Coifi doing there?  (And I seem to recall, however
vaguely, that he is not the only pagan priest mentioned by Bede.)
        2) Since OE presumably did not have /oi/, what is the /oi/ in his
name doing there?  He should have been "Cafi", with long /a/.  Or perhaps
"Coefi", but even then Germanic /o/ exists only in foreign borrowings or
where restored by analogy.

        So something is not quite right here ...

                                                        Dr. David L. White