Re: MARS etymology

--- In cybalist@..., liberty@... wrote:

> I read somewhere, I don't remember where, that Mars might somehow
> be connected to Sk. marút- (*ma:wort-, *mawrt- > *marut-). Is
> there anything to this?
> -David
>
--- In cybalist@..., liberty@... wrote:
> I read somewhere, I don't remember where, that Mars might somehow
> be connected to Sk. marút- (*ma:wort-, *mawrt- > *marut-). Is
> there anything to this?
> -David
>

That seems to be a near-universal consensus. However, I suspect that
recent authors repeat it as fact without questioning it. There were
eight maruts, attendants of Indra. The name translates as "storm".
They are the eight directions on the compass. I don't care if it was
Dumezil himself who wrote it, it's a great leap from Skt
marut, "storm", to Skt marya, "warrior", which seems to be a possible
cognate for Mars.

Indra is commonly seen as a war god. Not. He was a thunder-god. A
monster-slayer. Thunder-gods have some overlap with war-gods but they
are different. Thunder-gods have bludgeons such as hammers, axes,
clubs, or just stones (=Skt stanita, "thunder"?). War-gods have
swords. Thunder-gods ride in chariots pulled not by horses. War-gods
ride horses (usually white). War-gods are associated with clear skies
and light - not storms.

Storm-gods appeal to individuals, usually the lower classes, for
justice in the face of oppression from the warrior or princely
classes. War-gods are invoked by the warriors in times of war (duh!).

In fact, I see them as state-gods invoked to protect the state.
Indeed, I suggest that various IE names for boundary, border,
frontier, are derived from the same root word. Warriors perambulated
along the frontiers on horseback, defending it against attackers.
Hence we have Gaul marg-a, ON mork, OE maere, Goth marka, Rum
margine, Skt maryada, Ave maraza-, etc ('boundary, border,
frontier'), Hitt mark-a ('to separate, divide'). I also suspect the
many rivers rooted with Mar- are derived from this same concept.

Okay, now I am prepared to see which of my ideas don't make it
through Piotr's anti-aircraft gunfire. ;-}

cas