--- xigung@... wrote:

> HAil Oskar!

>
> > "Dises"? You're not the first one I see who, lacking an English
> > cognate, simply projects one, or digs up an extremely archaic,
> > long-forgotten one :) A Word like "byrnie" (= armor, ON "brynja") in
> > ON kennings translations is one example...
>
> I think I saw Susan Granquist was on the list, who has made a special
> study of the "Disir" over many years. Maybe, like "�sir" it will
> one day be a valid English word, just like English has taken up
> many Norse words in the past. (e.g. equipment, bag, and a host
> of other examples that I *ought* to have memorized, but haven't
> [yet]) But I am not sure if every one knows that the -ir ending
> gives the ON plural. (well, everyone on *this* list surely knows)
> In German there also is a cognate in "Idisi" (?)


> > When I translate, I usually prefer to use words that educated people
> > at least have a decent chance of knowing. I can't see why "d�sir"
> > shouldn't be translated as "maidens" or "nymphs" there. Objections?
> >
> My impression is that the "Disir" are not always young maidens.
> (cf. the matronae cult of the lower Rhine)

Why not just leave it as "d�sir?" I'd probably translate it or gloss it as
matrons or ladies if I had to, although technically I understand that it's
actually equivalent to tivar, aesir, in the sense of "deities." I prefer to
use maiden where it is the literal translation of meyjar.

Idisi is said to be cognate with disir. The role and function also seems to be
similar, but then we could use matrons, ladies, norns, etc, as some of the
translators such as Hollander have done I would prefer a mix of English and
Old Norse where the term is idiomatic or specific to the mythology.




=====
Regards,
Susan Granquist
http://www.irminsul.org

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail.
http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/