Etymology of gods' names: was Myths of Hu the Sword

From: Jane Williams <janewilliams20_at_...>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 07:59:22 -0000

Yes, I know, a long word like that sounds "esoteric", but I have a suspicion this is something that was meant to be blindingly obvious.

> Could be - but I've always assumed "Hu" is the first
> syllable of "Humakt".

Hu-Makt. The syllable "makt" appears in other names, too. Maybe it has a meaning? "Hela-makt" - Heler, with a "makt" on the end, is Heler seen as one of Orlanth's Storms rather than as a god in his own right. Or, as it says on ST p82, "called himself Helamakt, Heler the Warrior".

So "makt" means "warrior"?

And Hu-makt means (something) the warrior? So Hu alone has the "warrior" bit of the name removed? Sounds wrong, for him. Maybe it's more specifically "one of Orlanth's warriors"?

Over in Ralios we have "Humath", who didn't sever from Storm, and keeps the "math" bit of the name from Umath. Which implies that that's exactly what "makt" *doesn't* mean.

No, I'm not too sure where this is going, but it does look like the sort of thing that someone assumed was so obvious it needed no explanation. Only after it gets spread in tiny bits over more than one book, I'm afraid some of us do need the explanation.