The following are some assorted notes that I've tried to organize.
I've asked the question elsewhere but without any response. I'm
trying to avoid mythologic speculation and focus purely on linguistic
evidence.
I'd greatly appreciate any input or ideas!
1) The Anglo-Saxon rune Ea(r) is the subject of extensive commentary
by Grimm (and others to a lesser extent).
A] Grimm connects Ea(r) with the rune Tiwaz : "in the AS. lists,
in adition to Tir, we come upon a similar arrow with two barbs
added and the name Ear attached to it. (In one poem, Cod. exon.
481, 18, the rune contains simply the vowel sound ea.) Then the OHG.
alphabets, after using T for tac, find a use for that very symbol
the two names Tir and Ear, though Tir had already been given to T. It
is evident then, that Tir and Ear---Zio and Eo, Eor---were two names
for one god, and both must have been current among the several races,
both Low German and High. "
So here we see that the AS rune is known both as Ear and Ea, hence
giving the interpretation of Ea(r). As for the connection with the
rune Tiwaz; Grimm states that the symbol exists upon OHG alphabets
and is named both as Ear and Tir.
I have been unable to find the alphabet in question and so cannot
confirm Grimm's statement, yet if it were true, it would stand as
strong evidence for linking the Ear rune with Tyr and the Tiwaz rune
(which may then be linked to various other matters).
B] Grimm proposes a connection between the rune Tiwaz and the
symbol of Mars:
"The shape of the rune t has an obvious resemblance to the old-
established symbol of the planet Mars when set upright,". And in the
Supplement to chapter 9, Grimm mentions "The very old symbol of the
planet Mars stood apparently for the war-god's shield and spear." The
reader cannot help but agree with the similarity between the symbol
of Mars (as seen in the standard symbol for "male" ♂ ) and the
rune
Tiwaz.
C] Grimm explains Ear in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem as meaning "death"
& "war":
"The description of the rune in the AS. poem gives only a slight
hint, it runs thus:
Ear bið egle eorla gehwilcum,
þonne fæstlîce flæsc onginneð
hræw côlian, hrusan ceosan
blâc tô gebeddan. blæda gedreosað,
wynna gewîtað, wera geswîcað;
(The grave is horrible to every knight,
when the corpse quickly begins to cool
and is laid in the bosom of the dark earth.
Prosperity declines, happiness passes away
and covenants are broken.
- translation by Bruce Dickins
Or:
Earth (or corn ear, or ocean) is loathsome to each nobleman,
when flesh firmly tries to choose the ground,
fallen fruits as bedmates,
joy vanishes,
man turns traitor.
- translation by Yves Kodratoff )
The description is of death coming on, and earthly joys dropping off;
but who can that be, that at such a time is burdensome (egle, ail-
some) to men? The ordinary meaning of ear, spica, arista, can be of
no use here; I suppose that approaching dissolution, a personified
death is to be understood, from which a transition to the destructive
god of battles, the brotoluigÒj, miaifÒnoj Arhj is easy to conceive.
Arhj itself is used abstractly by the Greeks for destruction, murder,
pestilence, just as our Wuotan is for furor and belli impetus, and
the Latin Mars for bellum, exitus pugnae, furor bellicus, conf. 'Mars
= cafeht,' gefecht, fight, in Gl. Hrab. 969ª; as conversely the OHG.
wîg pugna, bellum (Graff 1, 740) seems occasionally to denote the
personal god of war. 'Wicgch quoque Mars est' says Ermoldus Nigellus
(Pertz 2, 468), and he is said to farneman, AS. forniman, carry off,
as Hild (Bellona) does elsewhere: dat inan wîc fornam, Hildebr. lied;
in AS.: wîg ealle fornam, Beow. 2155; wîg fornom, Cod. exon. 291, 11.
Do we not still say, war or battle snatched them all away?"
On the other hand, RI Page (An introduction to English Runes, pg 76)
says that Ear, in the OE poem is linked with the idea of death and
that it:
"must mean `earth' and hence `grave', cognate with ON aurr, `wet
clay', eyrr, `gravelly bank near water', and Gothic
*aurahjons, `tomb'."
So, if Page is correct, rather than Ear being linked with Tiwaz (via
the OHG alphabet) and Mars (via both the similarity to the symbol
♂;
and the proposed connection between Tyr and Mars); it is more closely
associated with the earth itself.
--------------------
2) Now we come to the term Irmin itself.
On the yahoo Germanic-L group, Brian M. Scott made the following
observations:
"In ON there's the prefix <jörmun->, denoting something huge, vast,
or superhuman; it appears in
<Jörmungandr>, referring to the Midgard serpent, and in
<jörmungrund> 'the (wide) earth'. Corresponding to this last is OE
<eormengrund> 'wide world', and OE also offers <eormenlâf> 'huge
legacy' and <eormenðêod> 'mighty people'. This last corresponds to OS
<irminthiod> and OHG <irmindeot>.
Then there are the names: Goth. <Airmanareiks>, ON <Jörmunrekr>, OE
<Eormenrîc>, MHG <Ermenrîch>. These presumably meant something
like 'mighty king'. In ON there's <Jörmunþrjótr>, the name of a
giant; it means something like 'great knave'. Finally, <jörmunr> is
used as a name of Odin and also of an ox.
Most of the ON and OE compounds point to a meaning 'vast, immense';
the name 'mighty people' cognates and the <Jörmunrekr> cognates point
to an extension of this idea, something like 'immense in power'."
Whereas in the archives of the Theudiskon group:
On Tue Nov 28, 2006 6:30 am, ualarauans wrote:
"Another intensifying prefix was PG *ermina-, also with a gradation
in the suffix: *ermina-/*ermana-/*ermuna-. The vowel-less variant is
absent as it was impossible to say **ermna-, I guess. Now, we have
it appearing in the different forms in different languages, and
sometimes we have it different in one and the same language. For
Gothic, it's Latinized Hermanaricus, which suggests Go. *Airmanareiks
(a-grade in the suffix and a binding vowel); further there's
Ermenberga suggesting *Airminberga (i-grade and no binding vowel).
Outside Gothic, there's Lat. Hermunduri = *Ermun-durôz (u-grade and
no binding vowel). OE and ON examples are of a little effect as they
seem to have chosen one single form of the word (eormen- resp. jörmun-
) and there are no binding vowels in these languages at all."
And on Sun Jun 18, 2006 6:37 pm Konrad Oddsson wrote:
"The vowel variation has often been blamed on "Germanic suffix
ablaut", which in most cases boils down to the instability of
unstressed vowels (*a ~ *i ~ *u) in PGmc. medial syllables. Thus, we
have something that looks like free variation in *ermana- ~ *irmina-
~ *ermuna- 'great' and in many similar cases. The original quality of
the vowel may be hard to determine unless we happen to know good
extra-Germanic cognates."
As far as I know, no strong etymology for *ermana- *irmina- *ermuna,
has been put forth. Based upon the information in the first section
of the post, I wonder whether there may be a connection to the rune
Ear and the meaning of `earth' which developed into the concept
of `vast'.
I would love to hear any thoughts and insights on the issue!
Sincerely,
Aydan