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Re: Æðelind: "linde" or "lindi"?
Lind occurs separately as "snake" in OHG and the equivalent linnr in Icelandic, but its masculine not feminine and may just be a substantive use of the adjective. I agree that the core sense is "flexible, lithe", but the derived senses of "soft", "mild" and "sweet" are widespread in the Germanic languages and even the tentatively related non-Germanic words (e.g. Latin lens-, lent-).
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Thank you so much for the fascinating and very informative responses! This really clears it up.
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