Orlog revisited

Hi all, back again and still working on the etymology of "ORLOG",
here is a review of what I have gathered from our earlier discussion
as well as from AHDIER 2nd edition and the online AHD 4th edition:

Or-Log: 2 words

---------
log:
"Primary form IEW (687) is PIE *lewgh- in got. liugos. Zero-grade
form yielded ketl. *lug-yo-n > OIr lugae, a verbal substantive of
verb 'swear'."
- Abdullah Konushevci

log stems from a noun with the sense "pact, agreement"; cf
Gothic 'liugan' "marry", liuga "marriage", OIr 'luige' "oath" (from
*lugio-)
- Torsten citing "Falk & Torp"


So it seems from those views, that "log" originally conveys a meaning
akin to: pact-(perhaps contract)-agreement-oath-marriage-law.

AHDIER states: Old English lagu, from Old Norse *lagu, variant of
lag, that which is laid down. Stemming from PIE legh- meaning to
lie/lay, that which is laid down.
This seems like a bit of a strange root to be the source of swearing,
I notice that leig- means 'to bind' and this would make more sense,
but I have absolutely no evidence to support it - so we'll go with
the original AHDIER solution.

---------

'or-' is from *ud- 'from, out of'


Thus it seems that the "or" aspect might carry one of 2 meanings:
I ] "out of" - as in developing from, stemming from? or
flowing/growing out of? This would result in orlog carrying a meaning
such as 'evolving from the law' -or- 'evolving from the oath'

II] "out of" - as in, not in accord with. This would result in orlog
carrying a meaning such as 'in violation of the oath/law'.
This would fit with the note Torsten made when quoting Falk & Torp:
'Orlog' then is properly the state in which the pact or agreement is
broken. Partly the same sense has Germanic *uz-laga-,
properly "fate": ON orlo,g, n. pl. "fate, life's end",
OS 'orlag', 'urlagi' "fate, war", OE 'orlæg' "fate", 'orlege' "war",
OHG 'urlage' "fate, war".

However, this latter interpretation seems less likely to my mind for
four reasons. First let us look at the source of "or"
The AHD entry on: ud-
DEFINITION: Also ud-. Up, out.
1a. out; utmost, from Old English ut, out; b. carouse; auslander,
from Old High German uz, out; c. outlaw, from Old Norse ut, out; d.
uitlander, from Middle Dutch ute, uut, out; all from Germanic *ut-,
out.
2. Extended form *uds. which does exhibit some R forms (that might
connect to "or"): a. ersatz, from Old High German irsezzan, to
replace, from ir-, out; b. ort, from Middle Dutch oor, out; c.
Germanic compound *uz-dailjam (see dail-); d. Ursprache, from Old
High German ur-, out of, original. a–d all from Germanic *uz, *uz-,
out.


Now, my four reasons for interpreting orlog as something other
than "being in violation of the law":
1) It seems equally valid from the above definitions, to interpret
orlog as meaning "primal laws".
2) If orlog carried the meaning of being in violation of the law, I
would think we'd find a term more similar to the Old Norse word
utlagr, "outlawed, banished".
But as we can see below, most (not all) of the derivatives of ud- do
not contain the R form (OHG and Middle Dutch being the exceptions)
3) While "in violation of the law" makes a fine reference for the
concept of war, it does not often make sense as a reference for
death. Death is a natural event, a debt all men must pay. The
exception is the criminal who is killed for violating a social taboo.
All other circumstances of death do not particularly lend themselves
to being seen as a consequence of violating some natural law.
4) It is possible that "Or" stems from some source other than ud-


It may be possible that 'Or' stems from the PIE *ayer. ON 'ar'
meaning 'before'. Stemming from Germanic *airiz, originally from the
PIE *ayer.
Therefore it would convey the meaning of "prior to the laws" or
perhaps "the primal laws/first laws"

Another possibility is that OR comes from PIE *er: to move, set in
motion.
I. Basic form *er-. 1. Probably Germanic *ar-, *or-, *art(a), to
be, exist. are, art, from Old English eart and aron, second person
singular and plural present of beon, to be. 2. Perhaps Germanic
suffixed form *er-n-os-ti-. earnest, from Old English eornoste,
zealous, serious. 3. Uncertain o-grade suffixed form *ori-yo-.
orient, origin, original; abort, from Latin oriri, to arise, appear,
be born.
This would then translate Orlog into something like "the laws of
being" or again, "the original/primal laws".



To sum up everything, when looking at the above meanings, it seems
that the majority of possible interpretations all suggest we are
dealing with a concept of "primal laws", "the laws of being",
and/or "that which evolves from oaths and contracts".


I look forward to your comments and responses,
Aydan