"hag-rid"

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 44285

At 17:28 20/09/02 -0400, Eloise wrote:

>I like silly etymology!

Lest I have given the wrong impression in this regard, I do too; what 
really makes it fun is when the invented stuff makes perfect sense apart 
from being patently untrue (My personal favourite, which I spent several 
months evolving at university, was establishing a fake direct relationship 
between "piece" and "peace" - I wish I could remember how I did it!) :-)

I do, however, draw a line between the purposefully silly and uninformed 
jumping to conclusions... (sorry, I think that sounded stronger than I mean)

>But you're very close to the true etymology, (I *think* - glances nervously
>at Richard).

(Richard enters the room, whistles nonchatantly and looks around, with a 
look of blissful innocence on his face).
Why, oh why, would you want to be nervous of li'l me? :-)
I should warn you, however, that I've just finished watching Silence of the 
Lambs on DVD... Anyone for Chianti? ;-)

>'Hagridden'  according to my dictionaries has both the meanings 'ridden by
>witches as a horse' and 'to be beset by nightmares or anxieties'.
>But yes, the night-mare thing is just like one of those crossword clues I was
>talking about!

Quite.

(Richard pauses as Eloise breathes a sigh of relief) :-)

I've been through some of my own materials (which include a couple of 
reproduction 19th century English etymological dictionaries), and for what 
it's worth, there's a direct relationship (seriously) between "hag" and 
"hedge" (via Anglo-Saxon). There's an interesting correlation with "hex" as 
well...

Off into the realms of fantasy now. No conclusions,  just a few basic 
notions to mull over, some of which I found interesting, and some 
*extremely* amusing...

Considering this all started off with someone suggesting "hagrid" came from 
Greek mythology, I've decided to put to use my limited, 90%-forgotten Greek 
(I was surprised how quickly it all came back to me when leafing through my 
yellowed  basic dictionary just now for the first time in about ... err... 
19 years!). Bear in mind that linguistic/semantic transformations have 
rules; a "k" becomes "g" (and vice-versa) very easily, as do "d" <-> "t" 
and Greek "z"  -> English "d"; also remember that Greek is an inflected 
language (ie words change depending on grammatical/syntactical function).

hagios (adj.): dedicated, sacred (regrettably, nowhere for the "r" to come 
from)
hagnagos (adj.): naked (again, no "r")
hagura (n.): anchor

(bear in mind with the following that "h", especially as an initial, can 
appear or disappear over time in inter-language mutation; the soft "h" we 
know in modern English had no equivalent letter in Greek, and even Greek 
pronunciation of some of the following words assumed an initial h at some 
times):

agnoeo (v.): be ignorant, not understand (whence "agnostic")
agnos (adj.): innocent, pure (related to above)
ago (v.): lead away; bring to safety
agorazo (v.): redeem; acquire by paying a ransom
agreo (v.): catch, esp. in hunting
agrammatos (adj.): illiterate, unlearned (see "grammar" in there?)
arios (adj.): belonging to fields, wild, fierce, raging
agrupneo (v.): be watchful/vigilant
akris (n.; plural: akrides): locust
aigeros (adj.): belonging to a goat

(the transliterated "ch" in the following is pronounced as in "Bach", not 
"chair".)

chara (n.): joy, gladness
chairo (v.): to rejoice, to be happy; also "chaire!": term of salutation

Incidentally, chalepos (adj.): hard, rugged

As for "rid" part (though some of the above words don't need it):
ri(d)za (n.): root (with the same metaphorical meanings as English)
reo (v.): flow (including lots of derived verbal forms ending on d or t, 
and transmutation of the "e" into an "i").

Anyone want to formulate some theories? :-)

--
Richard, off to bed before saying any more silly things