Germanic *ragina- (a strong neuter) meant
'judgement, rule, decree' (cf. Goth. ragin). In ON the plural <regin> or
<rögn> (I give the OIcel. forms) was used with the meaning 'the
(judgements of) gods' (the Gen. pl. was <ragna>, hence "Ragnarök" =
<ragna rök/røkkr> 'the destiny/twilight of gods'). <rögn> and
<regin> both derive from the neuter pl. *ragnu/*raginu < *ragino:
respectively with and without early syncope (cf. barn 'child' sg., börn pl.). In
composition one would expect <ragn-> or <regin-/rægin-> (<
*ragina-), but <rögn-> could creep in, as is often the case with pluralia
tantum.
The dialectal distribution of u-umlaut in
Old Norse is a complex affair, but generally we have a west-to-east cline, Old
Icelandic using it regularly and Old Swedish only sporadically. In the east it
would be possible to come across Ragnvald or Reg(i)nvald, but Rögnvaldr is a
distinctly West Norse form.
There were about a dozen other names with
<ragn-> (Ragnhildr, Ræginmundr [Raymond], Ragnarr, etc.). In by far
most of them the variant <ragn-> is used.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 11:39 PM
Subject: Re: [tied] Ragnvalðr or Rögnvalðr?
The last question, just to close the case
completely.
The only reason for <a> > <o,> mutation I'm
aware of (though I
definitely feel there are others) is u-umlaut. This would
point to
something like *Ragunwaldaz as an archetype (with the meaning like
'gods' rule'?). If so, was umlaut lost or have failed in eastern
Norse
(= later Old Swedish)?
In other words,
1. What would be the etymology
for _Ro,gnvaldr_/_Ragnvaldr_?
2. Why can we safely assume _Ragnvaldr_ for
eastern Norse while
_Ro,gnvaldr_ seemes to be a standard western (Icelandic)
form?