--- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
> Sorry, Steve, but the name is composed of readily recognisable
Scandinavian elements occurring in different combinations in numerous
names (and of course existing also as free lexemes), and there can
really be no mistake about its etymology. Neither *air- nor *er-
would have yielded anything remotely like ON <her-> (or <hær->, since
we also have variant forms like <hærmo:dh>); this can _only_ derive
from older *xar- with I-umlaut. If you propose a different etymology
I must ask you to account for the form of the word. If you propose a
borrowing, please specify a plausible scenario: the source language,
the approximate date, and the further development of the loan
(obviously direct loans from Ancient Greek into Viking Age
Scandinavian are impossible without a time machine).
>
> The meaning of Germanic *mo:da- is anything but narrow (which is
not my fault), so the "original" semantics of Hermod could be
anything from 'ésprit de corps' to 'military courage' or 'battle
wrath'. The argument that the name is not suitable for a messenger
rests on identifying him completely with this single function and on
selecting just one possible meaning of the name, and then on
insisiting that the two must match. Hermod's name may be older than
his "mission in Hell". Odin himself had several bynames of the type
Herjann, Herjaföðr, Herjatogi, Herteitr etc. The version of the Baldr
story that has reached us was written by Snorri in 1200, and any
parallels between Hermes and Hermod are possibly due to Snorri's
erudition rather than being purely coincidental.
Interesting-I know Hermod has also been attributed the caduceus, and
such, also possibly Snorri's work(or others who were eager to
identify Hermes/Hermod?)
*poorly documented information alert*
I heard Irmin gets confused/overlaps with Hermod?
Also, I read Irmin has been identified with Frey, which maybe
supports the connection of the ithyphallic Hermae with the Irminsul.