From Proto-Germanic *þur(i)saz to Karelian Iku Turso: A Case of Mythology, Language and the Lived Environment I: Proto-Germanic *þur(i)saz as Noun and Theonym (original) (raw)
Related papers
Mythic Discourses: Studies in Uralic Traditions. Ed. Frog, Anna-Leena Siikala & Eila Stepanova. Studia Fennica Folkloristica 20. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. Pp. 205–254. , 2012
This article addresses a historical transformation in Finno-Karelian mythology of kalevalaic poetry (which provided the basis for the national epic Kalevala). The transformation is addressed in long-term perspective, focusing on the discontinuities from a Finno-Ugric heritage. It addresses several strata of development in terms of 'ethnocultural substrata' (see Papers on Theory, Method and Tools). These include stratified developments evident in the lexicon of the mythology; evidence of a Circum-Baltic narrative cycle connected with the spread of iron-working technology; and concentrates on the revolution in the mythology associated with a language-based technology of incantations, which included conceptual models of the body incompatible with inherited shamanism. Discussion centers on the mythological cycle associated with the mysterious object called sammas/sampo, looking at the historical backgrounds of the material and its transformation in the emergence of this mythological cycle. These transformations are considered in relation to the restructuring of the mythology and its relationship to the new category of ritual specialist associated with the technology of incantations. This paper overlaps with "Shamans, Christians, and Things in between", which is oriented to medievalists and especially Germanic scholars and discusses processes and implications of synthesis of the tradition and its spread over a large geographical area, displacing other forms of Finnic mythology and also the Sámi mythology of linguistically assimilated populations. This paper also overlaps with "Evolution, Revolution and Ethnocultural Substrata", which concentrates on the Uralic sky-gods in long-term perspective and what happened to the inherited models in Finnic cultures.
UCL Eprints. London: University College London. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/19428/, 2010
The orientation of this study is to explore what the sources for each narrative tradition can (and cannot) tell us about their respective histories, in order to reach a point at which it becomes possible to discuss a relationship between them and the significance of that relationship. This is not intended as an exhaustive study of every element of each source or every aspect of each tradition. It will present a basic introduction to sources for each tradition ( §3-4) followed by a basic context for approaching the possibility of a cultural exchange ( §5-7). The APE and its "powers" are introduced with specific examples from both traditions ( §8-13). This will be followed by sections on the activation and manipulation of "identities" from the level of cultural figures to textual and extra-textual entities ( §14-16) followed by relationships of traditions to individuals and social groups who perform them, and the impact which this has on the evolution of tradition as a social process ( §17-18). The study will then address more specific issues in relationships between source and application in the medieval and iconographic representations of the Baldr-Cycle where so little comparative material is available to provide a context ( §19).
Kaleva and his Sons from Kalanti - On the Etymology of Certain Names in Finnic Mythology
2012
This article deals with the origin of the names of certain mythical figures in Finnic pre-Christian mythology. The purpose of the article is to propose an etymology and a dating for the mythical names Kaleva, Kalevanpoika, Tiera, Niera and Liera, as well as the etymologically related Finnish place-names Kalanti and Torre. Kaleva and Kalevanpoikas are ancient mythical powerful giants. There have been many attempts to etymologize the name Kaleva, none of which turns out to be both phonologically and semantically satisfactory after critical scrutiny. Kaleva belongs to the pre-Christian Finnic worldview, so the word must have existed as early as in the Iron Age. The wordʼs distribution is rather limited. I propose that Kaleva is a Proto-Scandinavian loanword whose origin is the Proto-Scandinavian proto-form of the Old Norse sea-god giant Hlér. The phonemic Proto-Germanic and Proto-Scandinavian reconstruction of Hlér is *χlewaz, but the phonetic reconstruction of *χlewaz is *χᵃlewaz, whence Kaleva has been borrowed. The sound substitutions are regular. There is plenty of evidence of the existence of and parallels for an epenthetic vowel [a] in consonant clusters /CᵃC/ both in runic inscriptions and in Germanic loanwords in Finnic. On the basis of the wordʼs sound shape, the date of borrowing can be estimated. Kaleva is likely a Roman Iron Age loanword. In conclusion, the names of many mythical beings of the Finnic pre-Christian mythology turn out to be Iron Age loanwords from Proto-Scandinavian.
Mythic Discourses : Studies in Uralic Traditions (ed. Frog, Anna-Leena Siikala & Eila Stepanova)
2012
Mythic discourses in the present day show how vernacular heritage continues to function and be valuable through emergent interpretations and revaluations. At the same time, continuities in mythic images, motifs, myths and genres reveal the longue durée of mythologies and their transformations. The eighteen articles of Mythic Discourses address the many facets of myth in Uralic cultures, from the Finnish and Karelian world-creation to Nenets shamans, offering multidisciplinary perspectives from twenty eastern and western scholars. The mythologies of Uralic peoples differ so considerably that mythology is approached here in a broad sense, including myths proper, religious beliefs and associated rituals. Traditions are addressed individually, typologically, and in historical perspective. The range and breadth of the articles, presenting diverse living mythologies, their histories and relationships to traditions of other cultures such as Germanic and Slavic, all come together to offer a far richer and more developed perspective on Uralic traditions than any one article could do alone.
2012
The discussion of Uralic theonyms in this 2012 conference paper have been significantlu developed and discussed in more detail in "Language and Mythology" (2017): https://www.academia.edu/35369652/Language\_and\_Mythology\_Semantic\_Correlation\_and\_Disambiguation\_of\_Gods\_as\_Iconic\_Signs The discussion of internal developments in Finnic mythology are discussed with emphasis on the epic Sampo-Cycle in "Confluence, Continuity and Change in the Evolution of Mythology" (2012): https://www.academia.edu/3687105/Confluence\_Continuity\_and\_Change\_in\_the\_Evolution\_of\_Mythology\_The\_Case\_of\_the\_Finno-Karelian\_Sampo-Cycle and with emphasis on the role of the ritual specialist in "Shamans, Christians and Things in between": https://www.academia.edu/4049431/Shamans\_Christians\_and\_Things\_in\_between\_From\_Finnic\_Germanic\_Contacts\_to\_the\_Conversion\_of\_Karelia
2013
This article mainly deals with the origin of the proper names Ahti and Vellamo. They both occur in Finnic mythology, where Vellamo is a female water-deity while Ahti has several manifestations, e.g. a male deity of water and forest as well as a skilled warrior. Ahti also occurs in farm, village and family names, mainly in southern and western Finland. I propose that the proper name Ahti is diachronically a triple homonym. I suggest that two of these three homonymic lexemes have a Germanic etymology. The third lexeme is likely to be of Proto-Sami origin. In addition, I argue that the verbal root in the name Vellamo is a Germanic loanword, too. From this and my previous study on the topic (Heikkilä 2012b), I draw the conclusion that a significant number of names of characters in Finnic pre-Christian mythology stem from the Iron Age and are of Germanic origin. It also appears as if some fictional mythical characters may ultimately have been based on a real-world person.
Alain Blanc and Isabelle Boehm (eds.). Dérivation nominale et innovations dans les langues indo‑européennes anciennes. Lyon: MOM Éditions., 2021
A comparative analysis of Old Norse (Fjǫrgyn, Hlóðyn), Germanic (*ferhwa-), Iranian (*parću-), Greek (πέρκνος, πράκνον), Vedic (Pŕ̥śni-), and Celtic (Hercynia) onomastics and lexicon supports the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) devī́- origin of the Proto-Germanic (PGmc) suffix *-u-njō- and points to semantic association as one of the causes for its spread within the lexicon. Old Norse (ON) Fjǫrgyn ‘Earth, land’ (PGmc *fergunjō-), currently analysed as a derivative of *perkʷ- ‘oak’, may be rather traced back to the PIE root *perḱ- ‘to be colourful, spotted, dark’, according to two alternative analyses: (a) ON Fjǫrgyn may be the reflex of *perḱu-nih₂-/-ni̯éh₂- ‘she of the Earth’, a derivative of PIE *pérḱ-u- ‘Earth, land’, which originally meant ‘colourful, spotted, dark’. This analysis matches the widespread formulaic collocation [DARK – EARTH] (Hitt. dankui tekan, Gk. γαῖα μέλαινα, OIrish domuin duinn) and is supported by parallels in Germanic (PGmc *ferhwa- ‘world, life, person’ : Gothic fairhwus, ON fjǫr, Old English feorh) and Iranian (PIran. *parću- ‘land [of the Iranians]’ : Pashto Pā̆ṣ̌, cf. the Old Persian derivative Pārsa- ‘Persian’). (b) ON Fjǫrgyn may be the reflex of *pérḱn-ih₂-/perḱn̥-i̯éh₂- ‘she, the Colourful/Spotted/Dark One’, a feminine derivative of *pérḱn-o- ‘Dark One’ (Hom. πέρκνος ‘dark eagle), a substantivation of the PIE adjective *pr̥ḱ-nó- ‘colourful, spotted, dark’ (Greek πράκνον ‘black’ Hsch.). This analysis is supported by the same IE phraseological motif [DARK – EARTH] and by parallels in ON (fjǫrn ‘Earth, land’), Vedic (Pŕ̥śni- ‘the Colourful, Spotted One’), and possibly Celtic (Hercynia). Both (a) and (b) support the current view that the PGmc suffix *-u-njō- reflects PIE *°nih₂-/°ni̯éh₂-, either already (a) re-analysed as an independent suffix or (b) as a complex suffix in devī́- feminines. Finally, ON Hlóðyn ‘Earth’ may be traced back to North-West-Germanic *hlōþ-unju ‘the one of the load’ (: *hlōþ-u- ‘load’) which was formed according to the phraseological motif [EARTH – BEAR – WORLD, ALL BEINGS]) and after the model of North-West-Germanic *ferg-unju (ON Fjǫrgyn), the reflex of PGmc *fergunjō- which had been re-analysed as a derivative of the neut. pl. *ferg-u- ‘world, living beings’ (ON fjǫrg).
RMN Newsletter 8 (2014): 38-55, 2014
This article is the second part in a series. It shows that the Old Norse term hrímþurs, often translated 'frost-ogre' or 'frost-giant' in English, was a poetic term as a variation on the archaic and obscure poetic term þurs (addressed in part I) that was employed for h-alliteration. After reviewing the limited poetic examples, the article shows that this term was strategically correlated with hrím ['rime, frost'] as a prime element of the world-creation in Snorri Sturluson's 13th century mythography, where hrímþurs is otherwise uniquely elevated to a distinct ethnonym. This construction of a mythic ethnic category is placed in dialogue with other places where Snorri seems to have elevated or created a term and constructed a mythic ethnos in Edda. This discussion is put forward as a frame for considering whether Snorri also constructed the category of gods called ‘Vanir’, the controversial topic of the so-called Vanir Debate.
Unveiling the linguistic Bridge between Greek and Germanic Mythologies
Deciphering linguistic concepts seems to be difficult. Various linguistic concepts have been solved by amateurs such as Georg Grotefend, who initiated the unveiling of the cuneiform signaries. Yuri Knorozov initiated the linguistic concepts of the Maya codices. Michael Ventris was a British architect who deciphered Linear B, the ancient Mycenaean Greek script. At the end of this report we may have to extend this list with another name... Today the linguistic Bridge between the Greek ↔ Germanic Mythologies seems to be inherited from the Roman linguistics, which is based on the various interpretations (Interpretatio romana, Interpretatio graeca and Interpretatio germanica). The names for the days of the week seemed to prove that the seven planets symbolized the linguistic bridge between Greek – Germanic mythologies, in which Mercury & Hermes were to be linked to Wotan, Mars & Ares to Tiwaz and Jupiter & Zeus to Thor. Of course this interpretation is rubbish. The Germanic and Greek names for the virtues wisdom and justice shared the same sources. The correlations between both languages are easily identified. Unfortunately the historians and etymologists did not choose the correct Greek names Metis and Themis, who had played a relevant role in the archaic definitions of the virtues. The correlation between the Hellenic and Germanic virtues wisdom and justice is quite strong. The interpretations romana, graeca and germanica need badly to be repaired and corrected.