helliruna

Old High German

FWOTD – 1 February 2017

Etymology

From hella, hellia (hell, afterlife) + rūna (secret, mystery). Occurs as a gloss to Latin necromantia. Related to Old English helrūna (necromancer, one adept in the mysteries of hell), hellrūn (sorceress), and possibly a Gothic *𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐍉𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌰 (*haljōrūna, witch), mentioned and Latinized by Jordanes in his Getica as haliurunnas (witches, accusative plural).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhel.li.ruː.na/

Noun

hellirūna f

  1. necromancy, sorcery

Declension

References

  • Köbler, Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed. (2014)
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