[tied] Re: Aegir and Ran, etymologies

From: mrcaws
Message: 33982
Date: 2004-09-04

Probably a spurious similarity here, but what about a connection with
sea-god Aigaion, who was said to be an ally of the Titanes in Greek
myth? Their roles in myth seem relatively similar.

Cort


--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@...>
wrote:
> 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