Loki's etymology
From: Gordon Barlow
Message: 36672
Date: 2005-03-08
According to Webster, ON Loki < PIE *leug- "to break, to destroy" > Sanskrit
rugná- "broken".
Is it plausible?
Is there analogous development in names like, Logi, Loki, Bragi, Vili?
Joao SL
Could be, Joao, but because of Loki's celestial functions - the god of luck
and caprice, among others - I am inclined to trace a development from Middle
Eastern Enki and Egyptian "ankh". That points to a non-IE origin (and for
Lug, of course, and Puck) from some earlier word indicating sanctity.
However, there may have been a semantic link with the posited PIE word
meaning "destroy", if that word's meaning held an element of randomness in
it. I don't know.
What did Bragi and Vili do in heaven, in the way of caprice or destruction?
Gordon