Sunday, October 02, 2022
An Etruscan God
Benjamin W. Fortson IV, Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), p. 299, note on Iguvine Tablets, Tablet VIa, line 27:
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dei crabouie: 'Jupiter Grabovius', voc. sing. It has been suggested, speculatively but intriguingly, that Grabovius is from Illyrian (presumably via Messapic, cp. § 20.21) and means 'of the oak', cp. Illyrian grabion 'oak wood', Polish grabowy 'made of white beechwood', Modern Greek (Epirotic) grabos 'type of oak'. Oak in various ancient IE societies is mythologically associated with the god of thunder (§ 2.21). Alternatively, connection with an Etruscan god with the unfortunate name Crap has also been suggested, but we know nothing about this deity — which might be a good thing.
Labels: noctes scatologicae
