Re: [tied] Arya-

Several of Eremon's functions and attributes are not independent but
are typologically connected with his position as a mythical king and
in some ways one of the founding fathers of ancient Irish society.
Thus road construction, involvement in marriage rituals, and even
healing powers are less telling than the furrow-filling rituals which
do seem to be a unique characteristic. I agree it is something on
which a solid comparative analysis could be based. Interesting. I
wonder how good the formal match between <Arioma[:]nus> and <Eremon>
really is. I gather that the relation is not unprecedented though not
quite regular either.

There are some questions that must be addressed if one wants to
combine Aryaman with Ariomanus. They look (deceptively?) similar "on
the surface" but their positions within their respective linguistic
groups are rather different. Arya-mán- is a consonantal stem,
apparently with the suffix *-me(:)n- (certainly _not_ IIr. *manu-
s 'man'!), while Celtic *-ma:no-s is ... well, what is it anyway? Not
anything that could easily be derived from *arjo-me:n, is it? Arya-
mán- corresponds to a common noun meaning "friend" and in general
appears to be a personification of companionship, solidarity etc.
*arjo-ma:nos (correct me if I'm wrong) has no really convincing
etymology within Celtic, and _if_ related to <aire>, it doesn't quite
correspond to <aryamán-> semantically.

What about the following (EXTREMELY speculative) idea? The name or
religious term *arjaman- (with some morphological and phonological
adjustment) could be an element of Iranian (presumably Scythian)
influence on early Celtic, together with the associated furrow-and-
cow's-urine/milk ritual.

Just a crazy trial balloon.

Piotr

--- In cybalist@..., "Christopher Gwinn" <sonno3@...> wrote:
> 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