[gothic-l] Gothic religion and magic-1

[hrafnsnest]

Hail All!
  I have, over the past few months, pretty much have been taking in 
all of the various topics on this list.  I find it very informative, 
especially Bertils postings of the etymology of the word Eruli.  I 
shall attempt, over the next few months, to post material on the 
general subject of Gothic religion and magic.  This is an area which 
is often either dismissed or avoided.  Granted, some of the 
conclusions are controversial, but that's what makes the discussion 
interesting and informative. 

 Jordanes chp. 24, who, in accounting for the origin of the Huns, 
relates that a group of witches ([H]aljorunas ~ al. alyrunas, 
aliorunas, aliuruncas) were thrown out of the Gothic kingdom, engaged 
in "unspeakable" rituals with "demons" of the Russian steppes, and 
gave birth to them.  This legend alone, must have had an interesting 
influence on the relationship between the Goths and Huns.

 Aurinia (Alirunais, Alrun, Alraun), a "wise-woman" is said to have 
been famous in Germany before Veleda, and equally significant, the ON 
name Ölrûn, Sæm. 133-4, belongs to a wise-woman, or more precisely, a 
wise valkyrie. 

 It is interesting to note that in modern Icelandic the word for 
Mandrake is -Thjofarot- "the thief's root", and is believed to grow 
from the blood or urine from a hanged thief under the spot where a 
gallows once stood. In ON the mandrake was called -ölrun-, and in OHG 
it is -alruna-. 
  Two Old French sources tell how the mandrake plucker dies upon 
hearing the scream of the plant as it is being plucked. Several 
researchers have taken this "formula" and applied it to the ritual 
hanging rites performed in ancient times, whereby the initiant is 
hung upside down over the -alrune-, between Asgardhr and Midhgardhr, 
it is taken up screaming, he/she "dies" and is "reborn" with the 
mysteries revealed.
 Alruna, now Alraun(e), has semantically shifted from the wise-woman 
(or witch) to the plant, now used by the witch.  It also has possible 
connections with the ON word "alu".

Sources for this info. will be gladly posted.
Jeff

 






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