[gothic-l] Re: Hairus in diminutive

[Troels Brandt]

Hi Llama

--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "llama_nom" <penterakt at f...> wrote:
> ....  So yes, it's possible. On
> the other hand, the tribal name Eruli, as you know, is usually
> equated with the runic <erilaR>, and less certainly with the
> Eorle of Beowulf.  Loss of [h] is not a normal feature of
> the Germanic languages at this time, so for this idea to
> work the name would have to have been taken from Germanic
> to Latin, and back from Latin to Germanic.

> I don't know enough about the history to say whether this
> was likely, or if it conflicts with other theories.

The Roman way of writing the name of the Eastern Heruls followed the
Western Heruls and their mercenaries in Roman service for centuries.
This became their modern names Eruli/Heruls too.

The Eastern Heruls were not mentioned by the Romans from the name was
first attested in 268 AD until the middle of the 5th century. They
followed Ostrogoths and Huns and their own name should be expected to
follow a Germanic development.

In 462 AD the personal name Herila was attested in Rome, and Herilo
was an Alamanic name. In the region where the Heruls settled in the
5th century the names Herilungoburg and Herilungevelde were attested
in 832 AD - at a time when nobody knew that "ila" derived from a
diminutive suffix. In Widsith Herelingas was presented as the name of
a dynasty or the Harlungen Twins (probably Heruls according to
Wolfram).

These names indicate that the name "Herila" existed in the
surroundings of the Eastern Heruls around the 5th century. Though we
cannot be sure of anything, this name is very close to "*Hairu(i)la",
but it is also very close to "Erila(R)" (450-550 AD) - actually it is
very close to be an attestation of a missing link at the right time
and place.

If we assume that "ErilaR" became "Iarl"/"Jarl" the "I"/"J" might
indicate that there also in "ErilaR" was a faint sound before
the "e"/"ae"/"ai".

The Heruls had no written language themselves, but their name was in
different times attested in Greek, Latin, Austrian Clerical Latin,
Old English and Old Norse.

This does not prove that it is the same name, but is there any reason
to expect more similarity in spelling in the different countries than
the above?

Troels




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