Re: [tied] Re: Aegir and Ran, etymologies

At 2:12:34 AM on Thursday, September 2, 2004, Marco Moretti
wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Joao" <josimo70@...>
> wrote:

>> What are the etymologies for Norse Sea Gods AEGIR and
>> RÁN ?

> They seem to be pre-IE items, with difficult etymology. A
> link between AEGIR (> *e:gijaz) and *akw- 'water' seems
> very improbable.

For what it's worth, de Vries derives it from a Gmc.
*a:gWiaz, noting Faeroese <ægi> 'Meer' and OE <æg-weard>
'Wache am Meeresstrande' and <eagor> 'Meer, Flut' (which I
think should be <æ:g-weard> and <e:agor>). I'd have
connected <æ:g-> with <e:g> 'island' (< *aujo: < *agwjo:),
of which <æi> is an old form.

> At this moment I haven't the faintest idea about the
> origin of RÁN.

He mentions several suggestions that have been made:

* 'die Räuberin', belonging to <rán> 'Raub, Plünderung';
* belonging to <ráða> 'walten', by way of *ráðn-;
* belonging to <rámr> 'heiser', hence 'die heiser
brüllende.

Not much there.

Brian