Re: [tied] The Chaideinoi, all honourable men

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 20884
Date: 2003-04-08

----- Original Message -----
From: "Piotr Gasiorowski" <piotr.gasiorowski@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 12:19 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: tribal etymology



> Why doesn't it sound Germanic? Why not *xaid-u-z 'rank, status, honour, person' (Eng. -hood, Ger. -heit, ON heiðr) with a derivational ending? The most natural formation from this base would have been *xaid-i:na-z 'man of high rank'.

I've just checked up the original spelling, which is actually "Chaideinoi". I'll eat my keyboard, cable and all, if it isn't *xaidi:na-, analysed as above. The name is reflected as <heiðnir> in Old Norse, but they were 'honourable men', not merely 'heathens'.

Piotr