Erilaz
ablaut variant of earl, and is also thought to be linguistically related to the name of the tribe of the Heruli
, so it is probably merely an old Germanic military title (see etymology below).
Etymology
This word is likeliest the
Anglo-Saxon eorl (Modern English earl) and its relatives, meaning "man, warrior, noble". The word erilaz is likely a derivative of *erǭ sb.f. "fight, battle", thus the interpretation "one who fights, warrior", though it has also been connected to *arô sb.m. "eagle".[2]
Historical instances:
- Latin: Heruli (dating from around 250 AD onwards)
- Greek: Eruloi (dating from around 250 AD onwards)
- Runic: Erilaz (dating from around 200 AD - 400 AD)
Inscriptions
Lindholm "amulet"
The Lindholm "amulet" (
Skåne
, dated to the 2nd to 4th centuries. The inscription contains the word Erilaz.
Funen shaft
The Kragehul I (DR 196 U) spear-shaft found in Funen[3] that bears the inscription:
- ekerilazasugisalasmuhahaitegagaga […]
- ek erilaz asugisalas muha haite, gagaga […]
Which is interpreted as "I, the earl of Āsugīsalaz, am called Muha," followed by some sort of battle cry or chant ("gagaga"). Āsugīsalaz contains bindrunes based on the X-shape of the g rune with side-twigs attached to its extremities for the a. A similar sequence gægogæ is found on the Undley bracteate.
Other items
- Strängnäs stone: …rila͡z
- Bracteates Eskatorp-F and Väsby-F have e[k]erilaz = "I [am] a Herulian"
- Bratsberg clasp: ekerilaz
- Veblungsnes:ekirilazwiwila
- Rosseland (N KJ69 U): ekwagigazirilaz
- Järsberg Runestone (Vr 1): ekerilaz
- By (N KJ71 U): ekirilaz
- The Etelheim clasp has mkmrlawrta read as ek erla wrta "I, Erla, wrote this"; Runic e and m are similar to each other.
Notes
- ^ *Eythórsson, Thórhallur. Variation in the Syntax of theOlder Runic Inscriptions. Kulturhistorisk museum (KHM). p. 34. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- ^ Cf. Orel (2003:85).
- ^ Kiel Rune Project
References
- Mees, B. (2003). "Runic 'erilaR'", North-Western European Language Evolution (NOWELE), 42:41-68.
- Orel, Vladimir (2003). A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden: Brill. pg. 205. ISBN 90-04-12875-1.
- Plowright, S. (2006). The Rune Primer, Lulu Press. ISBN 1-84728-246-6; book review