----- Original Message ----
From: Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...>
...
Gol/a,b would surely have known that OIc. her-váðir = OE here-wæ:d
(literally 'army dress'). The first element is *xarja- 'army', the
second (OHG wa:t, OIc. váð, OSax. wa:di 'clothing') the same as in Mod.E
(widow's) weeds.
Any chance that wae:di is the source of English wad? I read some convoluted history (Partridge?) that traces it back to
Egyptian wadi via Egyptian Arabic but OE wae:d seems more immediate