haliurunna

Latin

Etymology

Disputed, but almost certainly of Gothic origin. One common view as presented by Köbler (2014) is that it is borrowed from Gothic *𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐍉𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌰 (*haljōrūna), from 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰 (halja, “netherworld, hell”) + 𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌰 (rūna, “secret, mystery, rune”). This would make it an exact cognate of Old English hellrūn (“sorceress”), and closely related to Old English hellrūna (“one adept in the mysteries of hell, sorcerer, necromancer”) as well as Old High German hellirūna (“necromancy, sorcery”).

A possible problem with this view which Köbler does not address is that there is no morphological indication (through a suffix or otherwise) that such a compound would refer to an agent instead of an abstract concept. After all, 𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌰 (rūna) simply means "mystery", not "one versed in mysteries" as one would expect given the meaning "witch". However, this is also true for the Old English cognate hellrūn, which despite an apparent lack of a suffix indicating an agent noun nonetheless means "sorceress". It may be a bahuvrihi compound, which would address this objection. Old English does, however, also have a suffixed synonym in the related helrȳneġu.

The above-mentioned reconstruction is rejected by Scardigli (1973), whose interpretation is shared by Lehmann (1986). Scardigli asserts that a reconstruction *𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌿𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰 (*haljurunna) (from 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰 (halja) + *𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰 (*runna)) would be more plausible. He argues that the geminated nn in the second element is not to be interpreted as a Latinization error. In his view, it is an accurate reflection of a Gothic agent noun derived from the verb 𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (rinnan, “to run”), here taken to mean "to go". The proposed second element, *𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰 (*runna), would thus be taken to mean "one who goes" (similar sense in Modern English runner). The entire compound would then mean "one who travels to the netherworld", referencing mythological or shamanistic journeys to Hel, of which there are parallels in Nordic mythology. He thus rejects an etymological connection to the Old English and Old High German terms.

Noun

haliurunna f (genitive haliurunnae); first declension

1. (hapax) Gothic witch or sorceress
   • c. 550 AD, Jordanes, De Origine Actibusque Getarum, 121:

     ... repperit in populo suo quasdam magas mulieres, quas patrio sermone Haliurunnas is ipse cognominat ...

     ... [Filimer] discovered among his people some witches, whom he in his native tongue named Haliurunnas ...

Usage notes

• Mentioned once (in the acc. plural) in Jordanes' Getica (c. 550 AD), a history of the Goths, as a Gothic word for magas mulieres (“witches, literally 'magic women'”).

Declension

First-declension noun

	singular	plural
nominative	haliurunna	haliurunnae
genitive	haliurunnae	haliurunnārum
dative	haliurunnae	haliurunnīs
accusative	haliurunnam	haliurunnās
ablative	haliurunnā	haliurunnīs
vocative	haliurunna	haliurunnae

References

• Köbler, Gerhard, Gotisches Wörterbuch (4th ed., 2014)
• Lehmann, Winfred, A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (Leiden 1986)
• Scardigli, Piergiuseppe, Die Goten: Sprache und Kultur (München 1973) pp. 70-71.