Rubezahl etc.

[Matthew Baerman]

I missed the 1st part of this exchange, so maybe this is beside the
point, but the  _Slownik mitow i tradycji kultury_  account of the
2nd element in Ruebezahl (zahl < zagel) conflicts with the standard
etymology, namely that zagel = the now obsolete or dialectal Zagel,
cognate w/ and meaning the same thing as Engl. 'tail' (like
Hagel/hail, Nagel/nail).  But then maybe zabel > zagel, if that's
actually attested, was itself the resulg of a folk etymology;  othewise
it'd a pretty queer sound change.

-Matthew Baerman