Other weaks attested: Broddi, Brandi. Also, the feminine Ljufa(long
u) is attested - add to our adjectival desription of ON man. Instead
of meeting our specimen in battle, and leaving our readers with
nightmares this evening, let us stress our specimen's hospitality. He
was fond of gests, and in his culture they were well treated, at
least as long as they did not stay too long and behaved themselves.
Let us say that ON man has invited us home, and that is where we will
stay the night. Our specimen was, after all, called Heimi and Husi
(long u), but more on this when we recap our specimen and suffix him.
He was also called Gardr(dh), and that is where his home is, and his
wife Gerdr(dh), likely also *Husa and *Heima. Entering his home we
see some of his valuable possessions outside: Vagn, Kani (Wain and
Sled, Kani from a Swedish Runic inscription). Our specimen lives by a
sea, which could be an inland water in ON, and we notice his Nokkvi
(hooked-o) and Knorr (hooked-o), two types of boats. Coming through
the door, we notice a Brandr, or rather two of them, one on each
side, ornatedly carved in animal style, and looking as if they might
have been mounted on the prow of one of his boats. Perhaps also
called Tjosni(hooked-o), which we will later see. We see his horse
bound to a Ragi outside, on which he bore things from a Klakkr or
Klakki. A nice specimen. Over the brandar and further in toward the
fire we go. We see a fine Ketill (ketil) hanging over the fire, and
we hear him call his wife 'Katla, a gest has arrived'. We are then
seated on a Bjalfi (an animal-skin, also something he wore). A
bearded Bui, our specimen, Kampi (from late Swedish, but see our
earlier Grani, Skeggi, Bardi, etc.), is a fine craftsman and invites
us into another corner of his home, where he has been working on some
things. We see his Lokarr and Nafarr (both from Norw. inscriptions),
two nice tools for wood-working. We see both tools sitting there, but
our specimen overlooks his Lokarr, and asks 'Where is my Lokarr?'
Katla replies, 'Lokarr fal lokar sinn i lokarsponum', and laughs. (a
Norwegian inscription, apparently funny - Lokarr hid his lokarr in
lokarr-shavings; the tool was used for levelling, a kind of plain,
but Nafarr was a drill). Ha, ha, ha - we laugh with, and note that
our hosts name is Lokarr. We learn that he made the brandar outside
the door, he refers to them as Trani and Trandill. He works hard wood
all the time, a tough man - add Eitill to our description of him (I
missed this one, from a Swedish inscription, but also attested as a
sea-king's name in ON). His Dottir runs in, and he introduces his
daughter Kroekja (Hook), who is a spiritual Maer (see again family
relations-names). We ask what it means, and he takes us to the fire
again and point to the Krokr(long-o, hook) from which the Ketill is
hanging over the fire. 'A very holy thing for our folk', he says.
Sure, we saw one on the ropes hooked to his slede and wain
outside. 'The year turns', he says, 'and soon it will be yule' (more
on ON Joli(long-o) later, when he invites us to local yule-meeting).
We understand. 'My forefathers were called Ongull(hooked-o), Krokr
(long-o), Hoekingr, Hoeingr and Haki'. Sure, we think, he must have
had foremothers called *Kroka, *Hoeking, *Hoeing and *Haka - after
all, his Dottir is called Kroekja (note that Gothic also shows the h
variation here, hoha, plow). 'In fact', he tells us, 'there is no
single thing in my tung from which more folk are called'. Must be
very special, we think, and note that we did see a hook on his
fishing pole on the way in the door. 'Soon it will be Hokunott', he
says(hooked-o, long hooked-o), 'the holy night'. (Add *Nott as a
reconstructed feminine name on the model of masc. Dagr, but more on
that later). We notice Katla working some skins with a Brok (long
hooked-o, later long a), a kind of tool for working hides, skins, and
note that she also has her crafts. We see yet another tool, a Bligr
(long i), and ask, 'What is that for?' 'For drawing blood', he
says. 'Why, art thou sick?' 'No, not at all', we asnswer, not
realizing that our host was his own doctor. (on the house-theme, if
ye are missing Hysingr, Heimir, etc., we will see them in our recap
of ON man, and in our suffixing of him). Let hope that this tool
remains on the Skjolf (hooked-o, later a, shelf) for the night, as he
tells us that that his what is other daughter is called. This fellow
is heavy-treader (add Sokki, from sock), and has grey hair (add also
the weak Hosvi, hooked-o, to our physical description on ON man,
beside Hvitr, Brunn, Erpr, Svartr, and add Surtr also, which I think
I missed). It is time to sleep. Comments welcome. -Konrad