Re: [tied] Re: hades

At 6:18:51 AM on Monday, April 7, 2003, tgpedersen wrote:

> Peschel: Anfänge germanischer Besiedlung im
> Mittelgebirgsraum mentions an old German name 'Furguna'
> (the name may not be right, I'm quoting by memory, since I
> don't have the book handy, I'll check it for tomorrow) for
> the Hercynian forest (plenty rocks and trees there!).

According to de Vries s.v. <fjörgyn> it's <Fergunna>,
<Firgunnea>, <Virgunnia>. Compare Goth <fairguni>
'Gebirge', OE <firgen->, <fyrgen-> 'mountain-'.

> The assumption is then that 'Hercynia' is Celtic (*p (>?
> *h) null, u > ü is plausibly Celtic too), and the Germani
> would then be autochthonous to the region (ie. there from
> before Grimm shift, but the same argument would apply to
> ON 'Harfada' "Carpathians"). Cf 'Fjorgun' an epithet of
> Thor (or was it Odin ?).

<Fjörgyn> is the name of Thor's mother; <Fjörgynn> is the
name of Frigg's father, but this may be a late creation from
the feminine name. <Fjörgyn> is apparently also 'earth,
land' in poetry.

Brian