An Etymologist's look at Norse Mythology.

Continuing on after my recent course on ancient languages, I thought it would be interesting to examine a selection of Norse mythological figures and examine the etymologies for their names.

Asgard, the Norse equivalent of heaven, is a compound of ass 'god' and gardr enclosure - and makes perfect sense.

Midgard to the Norsemen, or to us 'Earth'. It shares the second element with Asgard, but instead of ass (stop tittering people) we have mid 'middle'.

Valhalla is the anglicised version of the Norse Valholl 'hall of the slain'. An appropriate name for the place where the souls of dead warriors went.

Baldr is from Old Norse baldr meaning 'brave, defiant', an appropriate description of Odin's son and Thor's brother.

Freyr simply means 'lord', which may sound simplistic but this busy deity has associations with fertility, peace, prosperity, virility, sunshine, good weather, and good harvests.

Loki, the Norse god who is always playing tricks and pranks on others, is sometimes said to derive his name from logi, the Old Norse for 'flame'. But that hardly fits with the character, and others have suggested luk might be more suitable, for it is used for things with loops (knots, hooks, locks, locked places).

Odin is the most widely revered god in Germanic paganism, as Woden he gave his name to Wednesday. He takes his name ultimately from Proto-Germanic wodanaz which has various interpretations byt is best given as 'lord of the frenzy'.

Thor is the hammer-wielding film star we know so well, he getting his name from thunaraz, the Proto-Germanic for 'thunderer'.

Tyr, sometimes given as Tiw, sacrificed his one hand to the wolf Fenrir, so perhaps he merits a name meaning 'the god'.

Ullr gets his name from Proto-Germanic wulthuz 'glory'. This is good for in days of yore it brings us images of great warriors winning even greater battles - today 'glorious' would be used to describe the runner-up's creation in Bake-Off.

Beyla is a female deity, but it isn't clear if her name means 'cow', 'bean', or 'bee'. Whilst confusing, ensuing discussions will still be more interesting than an episode of Bake-Off.

Freyja is quite simply Old Norse for 'lady, mistress'.

Frigg is from the Old Norse frijjo which may mean 'beloved' or 'free' depending upon the context.

Nanna os associated with the god Baldr, she may have a name meaning 'mother', alternatively 'she who empowers', or possibly 'the daring one', or even just 'woman'.

Sigyn simply means 'friend of victory', she appears in the Prose Edda where she assists her husband Loki during his time spent in bondage.

Snotra may not be the ebst-known of Norse goddesses, but she certainly has the best name - no, not for that reason, but because her name means 'clever'. While she is associated with wisdom, although I couldn't really see what she was held to have done to earn this accolade.

An Etymologist's look at Mayan Mythology.

Continuing on after my recent course on ancient languages, I thought it would be interesting to examine a selection of Mayan mythological figures and examine the etymologies for their names.

Acat is the Mayan god associated with tattooing, of all things, and a name which either describes a water reed or, if the pronunciation is 'ah-cat', then it would be 'He of the Storage Jar'. I do so hope it's the latter.

Awilix is the goddess of the moon, or the queen of the night, depending upon the source consulted. Similarly the name has two possible sources and two meanings, depending upon the language of origin: if the Nuahatal language of the Aztecs then this seems to be a place name; but if the Q'eqchi' Mayan language, then it represents the 'swallow' as in the bird.

Bacab is not one god but four. Tha Bacabs being the four associated with the interior of the world, the source of the soil and water deposits. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but what we do know is their names - Hobnil, Cantzicnal, Sacimi, and Hosanek - who held up the four points of the sky after escaping from the deluge which destroyed it. (Amazing how many ancient cultures have a story where the world was reset following a flood.)

Camazotz is a compound name, one formed from the K'iche' words kame meaning 'death' and sotz meaning 'bat', which is really good news as Camazotz is the god of death and bats.

Cizin has a name meaning 'stench', it is derived from the root ciz meaning 'flatulence'. As a Mayan god of death and earthquakes, and on a person's death he is said to burn their souls on his mouth and anus.

Gukumatz is derived from two K'iche' words q'uq the 'replendant quetzal' and kumatz 'snake'. This small Central American bird seems a rather odd choice for the head and wings end of a creature with a ophidian's body/tail.

Itzamna was original defined as 'lizard house, from the Yucatecan words itzam na. But latterly other suggestions have been put forward, including itz which covers several secretions such as sap, dew, and even semen, and also itzam meaning 'asperser, sorcerer'.

Jacawitz, the mountain god, probably gets his name from the Cholan languages where jacawitz means 'first mountain' (as in the first mountain of creation). That does make more sense than the alternative offering of Mam xq'aqwitz 'yellow wasp'.

Tepeu means 'sovereign' in the K'iche' language, and is one of the creation gods.

Yopaat, the Mayan storm god, gets his name from yop and aat which quite literally translates as 'leaf penis'.

An Etymologist's look at Incan Mythology.

Continuing on after my recent course on ancient languages, I thought it would be interesting to examine a selection of Incan mythological figures and examine the etymologies for their names.

Apu has several meanings, depending upon the context, but most likely means simply 'lord', with the deity associated with a mountain which houses the god's living spirit.

Pacha Kamaq is from the Quechua language and means 'creator of the world'. He is said to have created the first man and woman, but he forgot to give them food and the man died. I don't think anything more needs to be said. Agreed? Let's move swiftly on.

Pariacaca was a god of water and rainstorms and, while born a falcon, later became human. Theetymology of the name of the god is uncertain, but there is a mountain of this name in the Peruvian Andes (it is unclear which was named first) which is thought to mean 'reddish, copper, or sparrow rock' depending upon which text is consulted.

Viracocha may have several meanings, for Quechuan languages speak of qucha meaning 'lake, sea, reservoir', and wira means 'fat', and tiqsi means 'base, foundation'. Hence, we may be looking at something described as 'the fat of the sea'.

An Etymologist's look at Egyptian Mythology.

Continuing on after my recent course on ancient languages, I thought it would be interesting to examine a selection of Egyptian mythological figures and examine the etymologies for their names.

Amun is the sun-god and his name means simply 'hidden'.

Anubis is actually the Greek rendering of the Egyptian name Anpu or Inpu which is said to be 'a royal child' and from a root meaning 'to decay' (no, neither can I see that link). The god is known by several titles, including First of the Westerners; Lord of the Sacred Land; He Who is Upon His Sacred Mountain; Ruler of the Nine Bows; Master of Secrets; He Who is in the Place of Learning; Foremost of the Divine Booth; and The Dog who Swallows Millions.

Horus is rendered in hieroglyphs as 'falcon', although etymologists also suggest his name means 'the distant one' or 'one who is above'.

Osiris is a Latin Translation of the Greek rendering of the original Egyptian, where the name is wsjr. This could be 'the Mighty One'; 'seat of the eye', 'something made', 'she who bears the eye', 'to make', or 'engendering male principle'. These varied explanations are down to the Egyptian hieroglyphs lacking vowels in translation - you can see the problems, for if the same applied in English it would be difficult to know if the word was net, nit, not, or nut.

Shu means either 'emptiness' or 'she who rises up'.

Sobek, the crocodile god, is the Egyptian for 'to impregnate'.

Bat is a cow goddess, whose name has the suffix 't', to represent a female, following the name Ba which seems to refer to 'the soul'.

Nut is thought to be named for her place of residence, as it probably translates as 'sky'.

Tefnut is a god of moisture and dew and rain, and some think the name (which has no suggestable etymology) is the onomatopoeia of the sound of spitting - this has nothing to do with the moisture aspect, but a reference to the mythological birth of this god when another god spat and created Tefnut and his sister. There is an alternative suggestion to spitting featuring other bodily fluids, but we'll gloss over that.

Nu is derived from nen 'inactivity', if it comes from Egyptian, or it could be Coptic noun 'abyss, deep'.

Amenhotep translates as 'Amun is satisfied'. Just why he was satisfied is extremely complicated and I lost interest halfway through reading.

Baal is from the Greek, previously linked to many Semitic languages such as Ugaritic, Phoenician, Hebrew, Amorite, and Aramaic, and which probably means 'owner', understood as 'lord'.

Imhotep translates as 'the one who came in peace'.

Tutu means 'image', although he's also known as 'Son of Neith', 'the lion', 'great of strength', and Master of the demons of Sekhmet and the wandering demons of Bastet'.