--- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
> I can't tell you if the Holm-Rugians were East or Northwest
Germanic -- there evidence is simply too meagre. The expected Gothic
reflex of the collective would be *rugeis (i.e. [rugi:s]).
>
The following piece of information may or may not be relevant, but
probably no one else in the group has it, so here goes:
In the approx. 100 years in the 13th and 14th century that the island
(holm?) of Rügen was under Danish rule (following Valdemar the Great
and archbishop Absalon (Saxo's employer)'s conquest of Arkona), it
belonged to the diocese of Odense on Fyn (comprising also the islands
Lolland and Falster south of Sjælland), not to Sjælland or Scania,
which otherwise were the scene of Danish power politics at the time.
In other words there was no particular political reason for this
geographically awkward arrangement. Which makes one wonder if there
might have been some ancient connection?
Fyn, Lolland and Falster in Alfred the Great's geography were
inhabited by South Danes. There are similarities in the dialects: no
stød, and traces of tonal accent. Personally I find it difficult to
tell them apart.
Torsten