LL-L "Folkore" 2002.12.11 (07) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 11.DEC.2002 (07) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic
               V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Folklore"

> From: RBlaustein at aol.com <RBlaustein at aol.com>
> Subject: Folklore
>
> Lucs question concerning St. Nick vs. Old Nick and the possibility that
> "Nick" derives from cognate Germanic terms for demons, especially water
> spirits reminds us that the Grimms were also great philologists as well as
> collectors of folktales.

I found Richard's comments on spirits by the name of Nick &
variations very interesting. Of course there's the very common
"Auld Nick" in Scots and various other names for the Devil with
the qualifier "Auld", the most general being simply "The Auld
Ane" ("The Old One"). Perhaps this too goes back to Odin - ie,
the God of the old religion, now considered evil?

Another very common name for the Devil in Scots is "Nickie-ben".
Can anyone offer any enlightenment on where the "ben" part comes
from? "Ben" in Scots means "through in another (or the inner)
room", but I can't make sense of it with that meaning in "Nickie-ben".

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Like Sandy (above), found Richard's thoughts and observations very
interesting -- even though he attributed Gabriele's question to Luc and
joined the ranks of those that call me "Reinhold" instead of "Reinhard,"
perhaps because I seem more _hold_ ('gracious,' 'well-disposed', 'sweet',
'dear') than hard (though little does he know ...).  ;)

We need to bear in mind that in many traditions the kindly figure St. Nick
is accompanied by one or more scary figures,


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