Horthmen as 'mGall'

[X99Lynx at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/24/99 10:12:02 PM, BMScott at stratos.net wrote:

<<Just to keep the record straight, the OED s.v. walk(2) observes that the
word is not found in English in this sense until the 14th c.>>

Let's make it a little straighter.  The OED goes on to say "OE had the
agent-n wealcere Walker (a common west German formation), but it is possible
the corresponding sense of the Teut. vb. had not survived into OE..."  I take
it that my AS guess was therefore not far off.

<<So far as I can discover, <galc> is a specifically Sc.Gael. borrowing.>>

That's good enough for my point.

<<The Dict. of the Irish Lang. gives the following senses in Old and
Middle Ir., of which the first is earliest: (1) a Gaul, (apparently
sometimes equated with Frank)...>>

I'd love to see the source for Gall = a Gaul.  I didn't think written Irish
went back far enough for Gauls to still be around to refer to. That's why the
equation with Frank on the other hand may make a lot of sense.  And that
brings us back to "walh."

Regards,
Steve Long