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ArchivesRe: Ansgar, Ansgard, Asgard
in reply to a message by Minikui
Wikipedia says:
germanisch ans- -> Gott -gard -> Schutz
Varianten [Bearbeiten]
* weiblich: Asgard
* männlich: Ansgar
So Ansgar is the masculine form, Asgard the feminine, and they both mean God + protection. I don't know if the German version of Wiki is as demented on the topic of name meanings as the English, but this seems sane enough!
Asgard, however, as far as I know is the place where the Norse gods lived, so it's originally an address, not a name. I'd always connected it, rather vaguely, with the great World Ash tree so it would be something like Ash(tree) protection. But I'm no Norse scholar!
germanisch ans- -> Gott -gard -> Schutz
Varianten [Bearbeiten]
* weiblich: Asgard
* männlich: Ansgar
So Ansgar is the masculine form, Asgard the feminine, and they both mean God + protection. I don't know if the German version of Wiki is as demented on the topic of name meanings as the English, but this seems sane enough!
Asgard, however, as far as I know is the place where the Norse gods lived, so it's originally an address, not a name. I'd always connected it, rather vaguely, with the great World Ash tree so it would be something like Ash(tree) protection. But I'm no Norse scholar!
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Replies
Ger is spear, as in Gerald and, I suspect, Gareth; and gard is just our word "yard" with one little sound change. So it's a matter of going back to where the original name was used, to find out which of these units was in, or most prominent in, the language of those people.
Enclosures were made for protection! Protect yourself and your livestock from wild animals and wilder humans = build an enclosure. Ask any pioneer. And then it's your own personal space, like the home of the gods. I suppose a spear is also a way of protecting, though in a very different way ... .
Enclosures were made for protection! Protect yourself and your livestock from wild animals and wilder humans = build an enclosure. Ask any pioneer. And then it's your own personal space, like the home of the gods. I suppose a spear is also a way of protecting, though in a very different way ... .
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Speculating here...
I have done no research or anything, but I'm thinking gard "enclosure" could be a later meaning evolution of gard "protection". After all, an enclosure is often built to protect whatever you're enclosing (either from being stolen or from having a living thing wander off into trouble, or whatever).
I have done no research or anything, but I'm thinking gard "enclosure" could be a later meaning evolution of gard "protection". After all, an enclosure is often built to protect whatever you're enclosing (either from being stolen or from having a living thing wander off into trouble, or whatever).
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Thanks
thanks a lot for your help, that was very interesting :)
thanks a lot for your help, that was very interesting :)
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