Piotr wrote:
> Gaulish Ariomanus is _not_ a god's name. That of Eremon the Milesian may
or may not be connected.
You are correct, Ariomanus is a personal name - however, it is quite popular
to take divine names as personal names in pagan Celtic Gaul. Eremon can come
from a Common Celtic *arioman-os, though other origins are indeed possible.
> The etymology of both (as well as that of the "freeman" word) is simply
unclear, mainly because their internal > reconstruction within Celtic offers
too many possibilities (I'm sure any Celtic expert such as Chris could
>easily cite or generate several alternative explanations).
True - becaue of the loss of PIE -p- in Celtic, we cannot be on absolutely
sure ground with this etymology.
> There is nothing that I know of (beyond mere phonetic similarity, but
that's hardly compelling) to suggest a >connection with Aryaman. Remember
that Theodoric and Theodore have completely different etymologies.
Aah, but we do have some interesting mythological connections between Eremon
and Aryaman (culled from Jaan Puhvel, "Comparative Mythology"):
Eremon, one of Ireland earliest Gaelic kings (as opposed to being a part of
the earlier and more apparently divine tribe Tuatha De), is a builder of
causeways and royal roads. In several different sources, Eremon is
responsible for arranging a protection against poisoned enemy arrows by
means of pouring cow's milk into furrows on the battlefield. Additionally,
he arranged marriages for his allies and established the hereditary
succession for his own people, the Gaels, who were newcomes in Ireland that
defeated the Tuatha De, et al.
Now for Indo-Iranian Aryaman-Airyaman (and Vidura in the Mahabharata):
Aryaman is connected wth roads and pathways in the Rig Veda and elsewhere.
Airyaman invented the gaomaeza ritual of decontamination and healing,
consisting of filling furrows with bovine excretions, specifically cow
urine.
Aryaman, Airyaman and Vidura are all connected with marriages and marriage
rituals.
Aryaman may be a satellite of Mitra and thus is connected with sovereignty
and maintaining the laws of regal succession and marriage rituals, along
with rituals of healing.
-Chris Gwinn