Re: swallow vs. nighingale

On 2007-10-19 21:29, tgpedersen wrote:

> I've moved to Hamburg for the time being, so I don't have access to
> any etymological stuff, but here's from memory:
> Da. gale "crow" (of rooster)
> Da. galdre "cast spell"
> Sw. galen (formally a ppp), Da. gal "mad, angry"

I've moved to Vienna for the time being, leaving my home library behind,
which is also a slight handicap, but words derived from *gHal- often
refer to magical incantations in Germanic, cf. OE gealdor 'charm, song
of enchantment' < *gHal-trom. This sense, possibly, is what we find in
*naxti-Galan- (*-gHal-on-), given the inadvertent yet strong effect of
the nightingale's song on the human brain.

Piotr