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ArchivesRe: Pharamond
in reply to a message by VickyBliss
Pharamond is the first, possibly legendary king of France, who lived in the 5th century AD. Apparently, a possible etymology is from the Greek "pharos", lighthouse, and "mons", mountain, so it would be "light on the mount".
*BtN's resident 10th century Japanese novelist*
My lovely !!! are Mehitabel, Hypatia and Zohar.
"A tuo ammaestramento. Sai tu qual sia, in questa nera valle, la risultanza di ogni sforzo e sacrifizio umano? Calci, nel deretano."
Brancaleone da Norcia
*BtN's resident 10th century Japanese novelist*
My lovely !!! are Mehitabel, Hypatia and Zohar.
"A tuo ammaestramento. Sai tu qual sia, in questa nera valle, la risultanza di ogni sforzo e sacrifizio umano? Calci, nel deretano."
Brancaleone da Norcia
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Replies
It would be pretty strange if a Germanic king had a Greek name. The site says that Pharamond is a form of Faramund, which sounds more likely to me.
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Anyway, "mons" isn't Greek; it's Latin.
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I know that, I didn't bother to specify because I thought it would be obvious. I got that information from a French surname forum, since apparently it still exists as a surname in French-speaking areas. O guess it could be a pseudo-etymology, though (that's why I said it was a possible one).
This message was edited 8/11/2009, 1:39 PM
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The Greek etymology is a folk etymology created in the Middle Ages by the historians in order to connect a character (historical or legendary) with the Roman and Greek historical and/or mythological characters (in the case of Pharamond, the historians attributed to him a so-called Trojan origin).
The name Faramund (latinized as Faramundus or as Pharamundus by analogy with some Greek words and names) comes from the Germanic element *fara-, related with the Saxon faru and the Old High German faran, "to move, to travel", meaning later "emigrant family" and subsequently, by extension, "land, property where that family is stablished"; the second element is mund, "protection".
The name Faramund (latinized as Faramundus or as Pharamundus by analogy with some Greek words and names) comes from the Germanic element *fara-, related with the Saxon faru and the Old High German faran, "to move, to travel", meaning later "emigrant family" and subsequently, by extension, "land, property where that family is stablished"; the second element is mund, "protection".
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