Heil Patricia!
--- In
norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Patricia"
<originalpatricia@...> wrote:
>
> We in England now call it the Plough at one time quite a number of
years ago - yet within MY memory it was called "Charles' Wain" -
wain being AFAIK a hay wagon.
Yes, wain=wagon; Charles' (ON Karlamagnúsar, gen.) could be a later
confusion for *karls/carls?
> The Americans call it the big Dipper
I suppose that it looks like a 'dipper'.
I have some words here for magic-symbols: gapaldr, angrgapi,
veðrgapi. They are possibly post-ON Icelandic, possibly ON (or even
earlier) - not sure. The word gapi is not in any of the dictionaries
I have at hand, but it is supposed to mean something like magic-
character/symbol - to evoke something/have some effect (for example,
veðrgapi is supposed to effect the weather somehow). In a Danish
book I am reading on another topic, there terms occur and are cited
as being Icelandic. I suspect that they are from the so-called
galdrabók, which contains magical symbols and formulae (from the
early Lutheran/late Catholic period). I don't have a copy of this
with me, but have looked at it in the past. Does anyone have access
to a copy of galdrabók? If so, does it mention anything about these
words being ON? Anyway, I cite these terms in the context of our
discussion about the word *valknútr, which is still a mystery to me.
Intellectually, I realize that the compound is knútr (knot) & valr
(the slain), but I have no idea where the term comes from. Given
that, it seems clear that extant names for symbols in ON are very
few. 3 that I can think of:
1)Miollnir (Thors hammer, which we have many old representations of,
so no problems drawing pictures of it)
2)Oegishialmr (mentioned in Eddic sources, but no identifiable
pictures of it that I know of besides that one in galdrabók, etc.
which is an 8-pronged sunwheel w/ extra inner circles and forks on
the 8 legs, etc - I cannot confirm that this is the ON oegishialmr)
3)Hrungnis hjarta (named after giant Hrungnir/mentioned in Snorra
Edda, but not described in a way that I can draw a picture of it)
Unless anyone has better sources or knowledge here, I am forced to
conclude that Christianity effected folk's memory negatively when it
comes to the names of symbols used in Norse culture/religion. This
is perhaps ironic, as we have names for many mythological items due
to the chance survival of some Eddic material (and Snorri's decision
to incorporate it in his writings). I find it odd that we can name
equipment/animals/etc. in Valhöll, name dwarves, etc., but have no
idea what many basic ON religious symbols were called... ;) Still, I
would be willing to bet that the symbol *valknútr has to do with the
god Óðinn, as he occurs as 1 of 3 in more than one context (búri -
borr/burr - óðinn; vílir/vili - véi - óðinn), even if one suspects
that 3 is really 1, as the single-lined *valknútr suggests ;) Also,
this symbol must somehow be related to the 'triple-drinking-horn'
shown on heathen Danish Viking Age memorial stones. Perhaps related
to the svastika is the name of Sumar's father, Svásuðr/Svó,suþr.
Sváss can mean 'dear/beloved' or something like 'one's/my own'. The
Indic word svastika means 'little blessing/auspiciousnes', formed
with svasti and ko (a diminuative ending = Proto Norse masc. -ka
fem. -kô, ON masc. -ki fem. -ka). I wonder is sváss isn't related
somehow to Indic svasti? Even if it were, it does not necessarily
mean that the symbol was called *sváska in ON - that would be a
guess in the dark, even if it could be right. Something with sólar-
/sunnu- is probably just as good, if it was understood somehow as
the Sun. But my best guess would be that the ON term for svastika
started in ey-, well attested in Proto-Norse as auja-, meaning
'auspiciousness', found in a great many ON personal names (<Proto-
Norse), and being to object of prayer in Proto-Norse and ON times
(we have attested prayer/blessing material for 'ey' in both ON and
Proto-Norse, a rare thing). On the other hand, the triangle-symbol
must have had another name. Comments and insights very welcome.
-K
-K
> Kveðja
> Patricia
> Another word or phrase in English that seems to reach to the Norse
Languages
> - I shall add that to my collection
>
> -------Original Message-------
>
> From: akoddsson
> Date: 21/10/2006 21:04:41
> To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [norse_course] Rögnis reið - Wodens wagon
>
> In Dutch/Hollandic the star-constellation called karlsvagninn
(Ice.),
> karlsvognen (Dan.), big-dipper (Eng.) is called Woens waghen -
that
> is, Óðins vagn. Óðinn is called Rögnir, and the term Rögnis reið
> occurs in Völsunga Saga/Sigrdrífumál, likely meaning 'Óðins vagn'.
ON
> Rögnis reið is solid, but I'm not sure how old *karls vagninn is;
> nevertheless, Óðinn is called Karl in some old sources. A good
Modern
> English term would be Wodens wagon.
>
> -K
>