Everard and Floris discuss the names of a deity:
Nerthus
Niaerdh
Naerdha
Nerha
Neha
Neha Lenis, Neha the Gentle
According to Floris, the first four names applied to:
"'The ancient Nordic goddess of fertility and the sea...'" (p. 634)
- although:
"'Veleda made her the avenging deity of war." (ibid.)
On the island of Walcheren, the name had changed slightly to "Neha" and the goddess had declined in importance although:
"'A primitive association with hunting still clung to her.'" (p. 635)
Veleda moves to Walcheren and makes changes that lead to the addition of the adjective, "Gentle."
However, the Wikipedia article on Nehalannia presents a different account of the derivation of that name.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I also thought of Diana, the Greek goddess of hunting.
Ad astra! Sean
Quite probably related, dating back to the PIE pantheon.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That's almost certainly the case.
Ad astra! Sean
The various names of the Goddess are expressive of the "Late Proto-Germanic" stage of the Germanic languages. They were starting to split up, but they were a dialect continuum in the period of that story.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I think a linguist like JRR Tolkien would have been very interested in these philological comments of yours. He was deeply and professionally interested in the Germanic branches of the Indo-European languages.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment