Re: Nereus, Nerthus, Njord and a few other thoughts part 1

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

>
> At 12:35:12 PM on Tuesday, July 22, 2008, A. wrote:
>
> [...]
>
> > The Norse Vanic aquatic deity Njord is supposed to be
> > linguistically related to Nerthus (via the Proto-Gmc
> > Nerthuz).
>
> > If we can connect Nerthuz with Nereus we might then assume
> > a rather precise match between Njord & Nereus.
>
> > C. Gwinn stated:
> > "There likely is a connection between Nereus and the Irish
> > Nera (who seems to be a late reflection of the Gaulish god
> > Nerios, the tutelary divinity of the healing waters at
> > Neris-les-Bains, France)."
>
> [...]
>
> > In light of this evidence does it seem valid to suggest
> > that all are derived from *Ner(1)- , meaning "under"?
>
> Why not a basis in the cluster *h2ner- 'man', *h2ner-to-
> 'virile, strong', etc.?
>
> Brian

Brian,

I'm not a linguist, which is why I always come asking opinions of you
guys. But to base the female deity Nerthus in *h2ner- 'man' seems
strange.
Furthermore, while *h2ner- certainly could be the source of the other
male deities, it seems very peculiar when we see that Njord & Nereus
are blatantly aquatic gods, Nerthus and the Gallic Nerios also have
strong aquatic connections. Why is the "Ner" aspect so evident among
the names for aquatic deities?
With that in mind, it seems more likely to me that the names stem
from something related to that watery aspect/function.

Sincerely,
Aydan