Re: [tied] PIE *h1eish2-: 'mad attack'?

On 2006-12-16 12:57, Francesco Brighenti wrote:

> According to G. Dumézil (quoted in M. Speidel, "Berserks: A History
> of Indo-European 'Mad Warriors'", _Journal of World History_ 13,
> [2002], pp. 277-8), Pokorny's PIE root *eis-1 would constitute "a
> technical term of the Indo-European 'warrior bands' [who fought
> madly and wildly, and were 'specialized' in going berserk]", i.e., a
> term originally designating a mad attack, and only in a wider
> sense 'to send, move rapidly, set in motion'.
>
> Is this thesis plausible?

Plausible is one thing, provable is another. The attested meanings
cluster round such notions as 'energy, divine power, fury'. Even if an
adjective like *h1ish2-ró- could be used of warriors, where's the
evidence that it was _originally_ a technical military term? It looks
like pure speculation to me.