Re: Mokosh?

From: Sergejus Tarasovas
Message: 61116
Date: 2008-10-31

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...> wrote:

> Seriously, though Mokosh seems to be an authentic deity, we know
> precious little about her functions. Based on the folkloristic material
> referring to <Mokos^a>, associations with sheep-shearing, spinning and
> textile preparation have been proposed -- which would presumably make
> her a popular household spirit rather than one of the chief gods in the
> Slavic "pantheon" (a questionable notion in first place). There is no
> solid basis for connecting Mokosh with fertility of good fortune, let
> alone identifying her with one of the representations on the Zbruch
idol
> (as Rybakov did with much imagination and nothing tangible to back it
> up). With so little information, any etymology must be considered
> tentative. A connection with the root *mok- as in *mokrU 'wet',
> *moknoNti 'get wet' and *moky/*mokUve 'wetness, wet ground' (with some
> Baltic cognates) is formally possible but also uncertain.


See also the discussion in Trubac^ëv's ÈSSJa:

http://essja.narod.ru/pg/19/f130-131.htm

Sergei