--- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: tgpedersen
> To: cybalist@...
> Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 3:16 PM
> Subject: [tied] Re: The Scythian Brothers
>
>
> > 1 : kronprins
> 2 : arveprins
> 3-> : (prins)
> > Torsten
>
>
> An interesting idea, and the semantic development of Germanic *arb-
< *orbH- into 'heir', 'inheritance' provides at least a nice
typological parallel for the Scythian case. So (1) is "royal
charisma", (2) is "hereditary right" (assuming that "arpo-" reflects
*arba- < *orbH-o-) and (3) is ... well, whatever. In fact, the eldest
brother does not seem to need any special virtues, being senior by
default -- which is precisely what makes him a loser in the end :)
>
> Piotr
I will have you know that I am the oldest of three brothers. Hrmph! :)
Now that's at least one thing I'm an expert of, and I can assure you
all that Herodotus' description of their roles is accurate. The first
is the heir by definition, the next the hard worker, and then along
comes prince Charming and steals the show.
The whole structure of the tale reminds one of Andersen's "Klods-
Hans" (I don't know its name in English) or Cinderella. The two first
siblings may have the rules on their side, but they don't have true
xwarena, exactly because they are bound by the rules. And (note: I'm
only doing comparative IE mythology here!) the structure may be
described as: High, Just-as-high, Third (tri-ta-?). I believe the
Armenians have a three-brothers story too.
I'll restate my case, for clarity:
1 : *?Leib-prinz, first-born, the crown prince, the formal heir
2 : Erb-prinz , second-born, the heir-on-stand-by, substitute
3+ : prince charming, with no obligations, but with xwarena
Of course, there ain't no such thing as a ?*Leib-prinz in German.
German <leib> is "body; midriff section", ultimately related to
<Leben> "life". But Duden has, among other things,
Leib-arzt personal physician to the sovereign
Leib-garde, -wache personal guard to the the sovereign
Leib-eigen serf
Isn't it as if as the implicit object of these "professions" there is
a sovereign, so that this might have been another sense of <leib>
once?
As for the second, Erb-prinz, consider that he has to stand in for
the first-born prince, his brother, after that one becomes the
sovereign, in case of illness and travels abroad, and ultimately, in
cases where the sovereign dies early (as they often did then) leaving
behind under-age sons, the Erb-prinz will have to act as a temporary
regent and guardian. Which points to the third strange sense derived
from *orbH- : German <Arbeit> "villeinage" > "work" (cf. <rabota>):
he is doing work for the sovereign.
In Denmark in 1947 king Christan X died, leaving behind two sons:
kronprins Frederik, who became king Frederik 9, and arveprins Knud.
Until the new Grundlov, constitution of 1953, which instituted the
right also for princesses to inherit the kingdom, people were worried
that Knud was only a hearbeat away from becoming king, since they
believed, probably more mythologically than fairly, that he was not
too bright.
Torsten