On 15 Oct 2002, Niels [iso-8859-1] Möller wrote:
<...>
> My popular ethymological handbook (Vĺra Ord, Norstedts) says that
> "hird" means body guard. It comes from old English "hir[e]d", via
> Icelandic literature and old Swedish "hirţ", where it meant body guard
> or other court folks. Also the same word as German "Heirat", wedding.
>
> So it's probably unrelated to "herd". On the one hand we have a small
> group of quiet proud men, on the other a large group of four-foot
> animals ;-)
Hmm... Don't be too hasty :). It (divergence of meaning) can have
very little with genealogy of words. Consider German and English 'gift'.
With regards,
Jan Pawel Woronczak
Wroclaw, Poland
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