Wodan again (sigh)

Emile Benveniste,
Indo-European Language and Society, pp. 245-7
'But the term which it is most important to define, because it itself
defines domus, is the derivative dominus. Its peculiar formation by
itself arrests our attention. The stem is domo-, not domu-; the
formation is peculiar, with -no- as a secondary suffix, that is to say
applied to a noun already existing in the language. This type of
derivation is not very common. The suffix occurs in a small series of
words, the meaning of which is instructive: first, tribunus, which
stands to tribus as dominus (stemming from *domo-no-) does to domus.
Apart from this, the formation is found in some proper names, all
names of gods. Portunus is the god charged with protection of the
ports and the wealth accumulated there; he has in his service a flamen
portunalis, and festivals are devoted to him — the Portunalia. From
this name it is clear that he is the god of the portus, meaning
strictly the mouth, but also the crossing of a river. Neptunus is not
analysable in Latin itself; but by means of the comparative method we
can restore a noun *neptu- (stem in -u) which would signify "humidity,
aqueous element".
The formation of Fortuna demands an explanation. In the traditional,
but not altogether clear, expression forte fortuna "by chance", we can
see that fors and fortuna constitute a single phrase, but it is not
immediately evident how the two words are coordinated. Fors is ancient
*forti-, going back to *bhr.-ti-, an action noun from the root of
fero; we must remember that the root bhr.- does not simply signify "to
bear", but rather "to bring" and also "to take away", so that fors is
"the action of bringing", "what fate brings". Fortuna, for its part,
is not a simple doublet of Fors; it is an adjective which qualifies
Fors and gives it greater precision. The Fors Fortuna is the divinized
Fors of *Fortu-; the existence of the form *fortu is confirmed by the
adjective fortuitus. As a female personage Fortuna stands to *fortu as
Portunus does to portus.
Finally, we have Tiberinus, a figure of the ancient Roman mythology.
Ancient prayers invoke Pater Tiberinus, the god whose name is derived
from Tiberis, the Tiber. This secondary formation in -nus thus
comprises a certain number of divine names for divinities who preside
over an element or a force, and two terms designating a social
function, dominus and tribunus.
This lexical peculiarity is revealed in its full significance when we
find that the same suffix is employed outside Latin with the same
function. In ancient Germanic, we have a group of words with this
suffix which comprise, just as in Latin, on the one hand words for
social functions, and on the other proper names: þiudans, the word for
the king in Gothic, goes back to an ancient *teuta-nos, which
signifies the "chief of the *teuta:", of the tribe, the community;
Gothic kindins "chief of the clan", from *genti-nos, chief of the
"gens". By combining the evidence from other Germanic dialects, we get
also *druxti-nos, Old Icel. drottinn "chief of the troop", cf. Old
English dryhten; the basic term is drott- "troop" in Old Icelandic.
This type of formation reappears in Old Icelandic Herjan, the second
name of Odin, which is coined from herr "army". The prototype is
*koryo-nos, which recalls Gr. koíranos "chief". Certain of these terms
feature in personal names, even outside Germanic, e.g. Gaulish
Toutonos, Illyrian Teutana and Gaulish Coriono-totae.
But there is a far more famous name which belongs to this series; that
of the great god of Germanic mythology, Wodan (Wotan, Odin): Wo:da-naz
(a derivative in *-nos) made from a term *wo:ða-, an ancient form of
German Wut "fury". The problem is only how to interpret the name. In
these secondary suffixations in -nos, the root term designates
generally a group of men, a social division. For an abstract notion
like wo:ða to find its place in this series, we must transpose the
abstract into a collective noun and understand *wo:ða as "the people
possessed by fury". This interpretation is not without support, if not
in the language, at least in the conceptions of ancient mythology.
This notion is that of the Wild Hunt known from the literatures of the
Middle Ages; a band of the dead who, once a year, led by their chief
return to the land of the living, and after devastating everything in
their path vanish into the underworld. Wotan-Odin would then be their
chief. This is a plausible hypothesis. We note also that it accords
with the surname of Wotan, Old Icel. Herjan, literally "chief of the
army", cf. Gothic harjis "army", German Heer."

I think I want to find that term in Pokorny.

1. wedh- "stoßen, schlagen"; uedh-ri-s "verschnitten".
Ai. vadhati, ávadhi:t "schlagen, stoßen, vernichten",
Kaus. vadhayati, vadhá- m. "tötend, Mordwaffe (bes. von Indras
Geschoß); Schlag, Ver­nichtung" =
av. vada- m. "Keil zum Spalten des Holzes",
ai. vádhar- n. "Mordwaffe (bes. von Indras Geschoß)" =
av. vadar- n. "Waffe (zum Schlagen)", vádhram "Lederriemen",
ai. vadhasná- m. ds., av. va:da:ya- "zurückstoßen" (dehnstufig wie gr.
o:théo:);
gr. éthei: phtheírei. erethízei Hes.,
hom. étho:n "stoßend, zerwühlend",
étheira "Haupthaar, Mähne";
o:théo: "stoße" (: av. va:da:ya-),
o:~sis "Stoß",
énosis "Erschütterung" (*en-wodh-tis);
auch in enosíkhtho:n, énnosígaios, einosíphullos
(enn-, ein- metr. Dehnung);
ai. vádhri- "verschnitten" ("mit zerstoßenen Hoden") = gr. éthris•
tomías, kriós Hes.; sekundär íthris, áthris;
lit. vedegà "eine Art Axt", lett. vedga "Eisaxt, Brechstange",
apr. wedigo "Zimmerbeil",
air. fodb "Waffenbeute" (*wodh-wo-); ist auch av. vaðaGan- "EN eines
glaubensfeindlicben Fürsten" als "Axt, Schläger" zu deuten?

ein sk-Präsens scheint ir. fa:isc- "drücken", mcymr. gwascu, bret.
gwaska "drücken" (freilich Ablaut o: : o).
WP. I 254 f., Frisk 446 f., 449 f.
2. wedh-, vor Nasalen wed-
"führen; heimführen, heiraten (vom Manne)".
Ai. vadhú:- f. "Braut, junge Frau",
av. vaðu:- ds., vaðayeíti (Kaus.) "führt, zieht",
mit upa- "eine Frau zur Ehe geben",
mit us- "(Frauen) entführen, rauben",
vaðrya- "heiratsfällig (von Mädchen)";
air. fedid "führt, geht, trägt, bringt",
mcymr. go-di-wawð, "überholte",
air. to-fed-, to-di-fed- "führen",
cymr. arweddu "führen, bringen",
Verbalnom. mcymr. arwein (*are-wed-no-),
cyweddu "führen, wohin bringen",
Verbalnom. cywain (*kom-wed-no-),
cymr. dy-weddïo "heiraten",
com. d-om-ethy ds., mbret. d. im-iziff, nbret. dimizi "heiraten, sich
verloben";
lit. vedù, vèsti "leiten, führen; heiraten (vom Manne)",
lett. vedu ds., Präter.-Stamm *wede:- in
apr. wedde:, lit. ve~de., lett. dial. vede und aksl. vede^-as^e;
lit. ve.dy~s "Freier",
vede~klis heiratsfähiger Jüngling, junger Mann", nau-vedù,
-vedy~s "Bräutigam" ("neu heimführend"),
lett. vedekle "Schwieger­tochter", vedama "Braut";
aksl. vedo,, vesti "führen", selten "heiraten", Iter. vodíti,
(aber aksl. neve^sta "Braut" eher "die Unbekannte", als "die noch
nicht Heimgeführte". Vasmer 2, 200);
Iterat. lit. vadz^ióti und vadyti,
lett. vadît "führen", und vadât "hin und her führen";
über lit. vadúoti, lett. vaduôt "auslösen, loskaufen"; s. oben S. 1109;
aksl. voz^do,, vodití "führen",
aruss. voditi z^enu "eine Frau heim­führen".
Dazu wohl wed-mno-, das Wort für den Kaufpreis der Braut:

Gr. édnon (für *Fédnon mit Spir. asper nach *Fha:dús "angenehm."),
hom. Pl. éedna "Brautgabe"; aber auch "Aussteuer der Eltern", hednóo:,
hom. eednóo: "ausstatten, verheiraten",
hom. eednó:te:s "der (die Tochter ausstattende) Vater der Braut",
an-áednos "vom Bräutigam unbeschenkt"
(a[F]ednos und é[F]-dnon mit a und e als Vorschlagvokalen);

ags. weotuma, wituma, wetma m. "Kaufpreis der Braut",
afries. wetma, wit-ma, ds.,
burg. wittemo,
ahd. widomo, widemo "Mitgift",
mhd. wideme, widem,
nhd. Wittum (dazu ahd. widimen, mhd. widemen, widmen "ausstatten",
nhd. widmen);

gr. slav. -no- vielleicht aus -mno- und mit dem germ. -men-St.
vergleichbar; zweifelhaft aksl. ve^no "Mitgift, Zahlung für die
Braut", falls aus *wedno-, vgl. auch *wesno-;
unsicher alb. vigjë "Geschenk zur Hochzeit, zur Geburt von Kindern,
beim Hau eines Hauses" (wed(h)-l- ?).
WP. 1 255 f., Trautmann 344, Vasmer 1, 177, 182, 212, Frisk 442f.


3. wedh- "knüpfen, binden".
Ai. vi-vadhá- m. "Schulterjoch zum Tragen von Lasten, Tragholz,
Pro­viant"; vadhra- in. n. "Lederriemen";
gr. éthmoí• polloí. desmoí. plókamoí Hes. ["mob", "chains", "locks (of
hair)"];
air. fedan f. "Gespann, Geschirr", fedil "Joch"
(coibdil "Genossenschaft", coibdelach "Blutsverwandter"), air-com-fed-
"beschädigen",
mcymr. ar-gy-wedu, abret. ar-co-gued ds.;
cymr. gwedd "Joch"; arwest f. "Saite, Band";

got. gawidan "verbinden" (gawiss "Verbindung"),
ahd. wetan "binden, ins Joch spannen, verbinden";
tiefstufig vielleicht schwed. dial. ydd "Ochsen-leine, Zügel"
aus *udheta:.

hitt. weda-, wete- "bauen" (von dem aus Ruten geflochtenen Hause).
WP. I 256, Pedersen Hitt. 118; dazu 1. wendh- S. 1148.

1. wendh- "drehen, winden, wenden, flechten".
Ai. vandhúra- m. "Wagensitz", ursprüngl. "Wagenkorb" (aus Geflecht),
arm. gind "Ring", gndak ort'oy "Weinranke, Rebschoß";
gr. rhod. áthras "Wagen" Hes., kánn-athron "Korbwagen" (*wn.dh-ro-);

umbr. pre-uendu "advertito:", aha-uendu "avertito:";
reich entwickelt im Germ.:
got. ags. as. windan, ahd. wintan, aisl. vinda "winden",
Kaus. got. wandjan usw., nhd. wenden,
aisl. vindr "schief", got. inwinds "verkehrt", mhd. windeht
"gewunden", ahd. wanda "turbo", aisl. vandr "genau, schwierig"
("*verkehrt, verdreht"), vandi m. "Schwierigkeit, Un­gemach", ags.
wandian "zögern, achten, scheuen," got. wandus — aisl. vo,ndr "Gerte,
Rute", vandahu:s "Haus von Flechtwerk", schwed. dial. vann
"Schling­faden an Pflanzen", aisl. vo,ndull "zusammengedrehtes Bündel
von Heu", nhd. wandern, wandeln u. a. m.
WP. I 261, WH. II 787;
*wendh- ist vielleicht nasalierte Forme zu we^:dh- "knüpfen, binden".



Now I propose this root ended in an a-language where it aquired a
watery flavor from where it was loaned into Italic, Germanic and
Albanian (but not Armenian, which I would like to separate out and let
someone else deal with):

wa:dh-, w&dh- "gehen, schreiten"; wadhom "Furt".
Arm. gam "ich komme"; lat. va:do:, -ere "gehe, schreite", vadum
"seichte Stelle im Wasser, Furt" (davon alb. va, Gen. vau ds.),
va:do:, -a:re "auf einer Furt übergehen, durchwaten";
aisl. Aor. Präs. vaða st. Vb. "gehen, vorwärtsdringen, (durch)-waten",
ags. wadan, afries. wada, mnd. waden; ahd. watan, mhd. waten ds.;
hierzu germ. *waða- "Furt";
aisl. vað n.,
ags. wæd n. "Wasser, See",
gewæd "Furt",
mnd. wat "seichte Stelle",
ahd. wat "Furt",
aisl. vaðill "Furt", vgl. nhd. ON Salzwedel.
WP. I 217, WH. II 723 f.


Note that vaða is class VI in ON.

So if this is true, it seems Benveniste's *wo:ða-, led by its
*wo:ða-no-, or should I say voz^d', is yet another gang dragging stuff
through water.
That makes Wo:dan a title, not a name, but if historians did think it
was a name, we'd get confusing stories of the same person appearing
over impossible timespans. Case solved.


Torsten