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Look up drihten in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
*Druhtinaz (Old English: dryhtin, Old Norse: dróttinn) is a Common Germanic term meaning "lord", properly designating a military leader or warlord. After Christianisation, the term began to be used for God (meaning the Lord) both in English and in the Scandinavian languages.
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Etymology
The same word existed in Old Saxon: drohtin, druhtin, Old English: dryhten, Old High German: truhtîn, trehtîn, trehten (surviving as archaic Modern German Drost, Early Modern Bavarian German Trecht "Lord God"). The word comes from Proto-Germanic *druhtinaz and is derived from *druhti "war band" and the "ruler suffix" -ina- (c.f. Wōd-ina-z).
Reflexes of *druhti itself are found in Icelandic: drótt, Old English: dryht, driht, Old High German: truht (surviving into 19th century Swiss German as Trucht "ruffians, scallywags "). In Gothic appears the verb driugan meaning "to do military service". In Old English dréogan and in Icelandic drýgia appear, both meaning "to perform". The root is the same as in Slavic drug meaning "companion" (see druzhina). Old Norse drôttseti, Old High German truhtsâzzo (Modern German Truchsess) is the term for the office of maior domus.
Mythology
In the Heimskringla, Snorri Sturluson wrote that Domar married Drott, the daughter of Danp who was the son of Ríg (Heimdall).
Snorri wrote:
- Dygvi's mother was Drótt, a daughter of King Danp, the son of Ríg, who was first called konungr in the Danish tongue. His descendants always afterwards considered the title of konungr the title of highest dignity. Dygvi was the first of his family to be called konungr, for his predecessors had been called dróttinn ['chieftain'], and their wives dróttning, and their court drótt ['war band']. Each of their race was called Yngvi, or Ynguni, and the whole race together Ynglingar. Queen Drótt was a sister of King Dan Mikillati, from whom Denmark took its name.
Current usage
The Scandinavian name for Queen, drottning/dronning is derived from this title.
See also
References
- Johann Andreas Schmeller, Bayerisches Wörterbuch 7th ed. by D. V. G. Frommann, Munich 1872-77, 2007 reprint: ISBN 9783486585209, p. 646.[1]
External sources
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