helliruna

Old High German

FWOTD – 1 February 2017

Etymology

From hella, hellia (“hell, afterlife”) +‎ rūna (“secret, mystery”), perhaps inherited from Proto-Germanic *haljōrūnō. 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

Declension of hellirūna (ō-stem)
case singular plural
nominative hellirūna hellirūnā
accusative hellirūna hellirūnā
genitive hellirūna hellirūnōno
dative hellirūnu hellirūnōm

References

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