Chapter 36

Fever, OHG. fiebar, AS. fefor; Goth. heitô, Mat. 8, 15 and brinnô, Mk 1, 31. Lu. 4, 38, both for puretoj, and both fem.; OHG. has no corresp. hîzâ, prinnâ. The Swiss have hitz and brand (Tobler 74a), and the AS. âdl, Beow. 3469. 3692 seems to be burning fever, from âd ignis, so that the OHG. would be eital. An OHG. rito masc., Gl. Mons. 391, from rîtan to ride, not from rîdan to writhe, as fever does not twist like the cramp; and the AS. word should be spelt rida, not wriða; Lye has rideroð febris. It is imagined as an elf who rides the man with rein and spur: 'der alp zoumet dich,' bridles thee; 'der mar rîtet dich,' p. 464; ON. 'mara trað hann,' Yngl. s. cap. 16; 'der rite bestuont in,' stood upon him, Alex. 2208. In En. 10834 and Eracl. 3166 suht, fieber, rite are named side by side, are therefore distinct; in En. 10350 'suht und rite'; 9694 'suht und fieber'; 9698 'diu minne tuot kalt und heiz mêr dan der viertage rite,' love makes hot and cold like the quartan ague. In curses: 'habe den riden und die suht umb dînen hals!' about thy neck, Morolt 715. 'die suht an iwern lôsen kragen!' your unruly neck, Reinh. p. 302-12. 'nu muoze der leide ride vellen!' sore fever fell him, Karlmeinet 110. Ride seems to be especially ague, which is sometimes called frörer, Sup. I, 183; though we also hear of 'ritten frost' and 'ritten hitze.' Imprecations common in the 15-16^th cent. are: 'may the ritt shake you, the jarritt (yearlong fever), the gœhe rite (swift r.) be at you!' 'May the ritt shake you to your bones,' Garg. 96a. 'Ins ritts namen habt rhu,' H. Sachs iii. 3, 10c. They said: 'whence brings him the ritt?' the same as the devil, p. 1113. Boner's well-told Fable 48 deserves attention: the rite appears in person (in what shape?), and holds a dialogue with the flea. It is plainly (not?) of Mid. Age invention; Petrarch epist. 3, 13 relates it of the spider and the gout, and calls it anilis fabella. In Bavaria fever is personified as beutelmann, shaker, Schm. 1, 219; a spell against fever speaks of 72 fevers. Russian superstition supposes nine sisters who plague mankind with fevers; they lie chained up in caverns, and when let loose, pounce upon men without pity (Götze's Russ. volksl. p. 62). My explanation acquires certainty from the Esthonian phrase 'ayan walged, ayan halli,' I ride the white, I ride the gray, i.e. I have the ague (Rosenplänter's Beitr. 12, 42-3).

The Greek epialthj, efialthj, literally on-leaper, was a daemonic incubus, an alp, elf, who causes the feverish oppression of nightmare; and hpialhj, hpiolhj nightmare, and hpialoj, hpioloj fever, fever-chill, meant the same thing, though grammarians tried to separate them by difference of accent. Add to this, that in Aristot. hist. an. 8, 26 hpioloj turns up in the sense of butterfly, and the notions of spirit, elf and butterfly constantly run into one another (pp. 829. 917). In Lith., drugis is butterfly and fever-bird, in Lett., drudsis flying moth and fever. Lith. druggis kreczia, Lett. drudsis kratta; the fever shakes (one).

An AS. manuscript on diseases and remedies quoted by Wanley pp. 176-180 (conf. supra p. 140) has at p. 180 œlf-âdle læcedôm, cure for elf-burn, œlfcynne-sealf, elf-salve, nihtgengean sealf, night-wives' salve. (6) Elsewhere I find an ailment œlf-sîdenne.

By the red and the white dog in Ettner's Unw. doctor 436 we prob. are to understand measles or rose-rash; red dog again in the Leipz. avanturier 1, 86. The Persians call scarlet-fever al, and picture it as a rosy maid with locks of flame, Atkinson p. 49. 50 (see Suppl.).

By gout (gicht f.) we understand a pain in the limbs, arthritis; in older Germ. it was neuter: 'daz gegihte brichet (breaks) sie,' a. Heinr. 886. Ulr. Trist. 1461. 'daz gegihte brach ir hend und füeze,' Râb. 1060; hence our 'gicht-brüchig,' palsied. 'daz wüetende gihte,' Renner 9904. As we also find darm-gicht (intestinal g.) for colic, and 'sun-giht' on p. 617n. meant the sun's gait, going, turning, I think gicht was a general term denoting the shooting, twisting and tugging of pain in the body; and a derivative corresp. to the Goth. gahts (innagahts, Gramm. 3, 518). M. Nethl. jicht, Icel. ikt, Sw. gikt, Dan. gigt. The Gothic renders paralutikoj by us-liþa, as if beside one's limbs, having no use of them; an OHG. urlido is not found. 'Ein siechtuom heizet pôgrât' = leme, a lame palsied state, Parz. 501, 26 is a corruption of podagra, which was also twisted into podagram. More Teut. are fuoz-suht, AS. fôt-âdl (podagra); zipperlein I do not find before the 16^th cent. M. Nethl. fledersîn, fledercine (arthritis), Leven van Jesus p. 52, and 'fl. in vote ende in lede,' Doctrinale 3, 1030; in D'Arsy's Woordenboeck, Amst. 1699, 'fledecijn, flerecijn, la goutte (chiragra)'; did the word mean a moth or butterfly that brought on the disease? (see Suppl.).

The flying gout that shifts from one part to another (arthritis vaga) was called in N. Germany (Holstein, the Baltic coast), at least as late as the 17^th cent., 'dat varende, lopende deer,' and in some parts of L. Sax. and Westph. 'de varen, de varende, de lopende varen,' the faring, running (sprites or things). So that this disease again was regarded as a spiritual-animal being which had been conjured into the body. Still plainer are the names 'die fliegenden elbe,' 'die gute kinderen' (Brunswk), 'die gute holde' (abt Göttingen), exactly what the elvish 'things' were called the witches conjured into people (p. 1074). And they likewise were imagined in the form of butterflies or worms, which caused gnawing pains and swellings in the joints of the hands and feet. (7) The disease being an obstinate one, and often hard to cure, the common people set it down as the work of witches. It is also called the hair-worm, and in the Netherlands jumping gout. A spell classifies gouts as running, staying, trembling, evening, and growing gegicht.

But the operations of the holden must have been far more extensive, and concerned in many more diseases. The Hollenzopf, Wichtelzopf (plica polon.) was spoken of, pp. 464. 474. In Russ. the plica is volosets, which borders on Vólos p. 625n., but comes from vólos, vlas, hair. A witch confessed (Voigt's Abh. p. 122) that there were nine sorts of holdichen: the riding, splitting, blowing, wasting, flying, swelling, deaf, dumb, blind.

The Poles also call worms that breed diseases in man biale ludzie, white folk, i.e. elves (Biester's Neue Berl. mon. schr. 1802. 8, 230).

We apply the term fluss (rheuma) to several morbid affections, some slight, others dangerous to life, as stickfluss catarrh, schlag-fluss apoplexy. The latter is said to touch, hit, strike; MHG. der Gotes slac (stroke); later, die gewalt (might) Gottes, die hand Gottes, Ettn. unw. doct. 224. 'traf mich Gottes gewalt' = I had a stroke, Brunsw. anz. 1745. p. 2022 (from Life of Mat. Schwarz, an. 1547); conf. supra p. 19n. Yet the 'stroke of God' (8) expresses also the quickness and ease of this mode of death (mors lenis repentina), compared with those that chain us long to a bed of pain: hence another name for apoplexy was 'das selig,' the blessed. We may compare the dwarf-stroke, dverg-slagr, palsy, p. 461. The Bohemians distinguish Bozj moc (God's might) epilepsy, from Bozj ruka (God's hand) apoplexy (see Suppl.).

The term falling sickness for epilepsy occurs as early as Diut. 2, 193b, 'valjandia suht (caducum morbum)'; 'daz fallende übel,' Fundgr. 325; 'fallender siechtag,' Hutten 5, 171. Otherwise: the sorrow, the misery, the sore trouble, the evil being, the scourge, the weed (Jul. Schmidt p. 136). M. Nethl. vallende evel, Mod. Nethl. vallende ziekte, Sint Jans evel, grôt evel, gramschap Goods, wrath of God, Huyd. op St. 1, 569. In Melander's Jocoser. 1, 434: 'may the gnücken touch you!' gnuk being LG. for knock. 'The tropf has touched him,' Erasm. Alberus 39, i.e. the stroke (apoplexy?); M. Lat. gutta, gutta cadiva, O. Fr. la goute: 'cheent de gote,' Ren. 25203, brought on by holding the plompe (lotus, p. 654) in the hand. A particular species of the drop occurs under the name of nesch or nesch-tropf. Schmid's Swab. Dict. gives from a MS. näsch as hiccough, singultus, which (like sneezing, p. 1116) seems to have been regarded as a mild case of apoplexy; Popowitsch p. 511 quotes noschen as hiccough, and in OHG. we find nescazan as well as fnescazan, singultire, Graff 3, 782. I derive them all from the Goth. hnasqus mollis, delicatus, AS. hnesc (Engl. nesh, Sl. nèzhno), to which also belongs OHG. hnascôn, nascôn, our naschen, to have a sweet tooth. Mone's anz. 6, 463 pronounces nösch-tropf to be flying gout, and gives a nösch-segen (-charm): 'I command thee, nösch, with all thy fellows, for with thee are the stech and the krampf, gespat, geschoss, geicht and gesicht.' A further charm speaks of 77 nöschen: 'we will go into the man's house, and suck his blood and gnaw his bones and eat his flesh'; but they get conjured into a withered tree. A severer, longer ailment than hiccough seems to be meant; Mone connects nösch with 'nesso' in the OS. spell, but a LG. ss answers to a HG. hs, not to sk, sch; to me the connection of the word with naschen, explain it how you will, seem indisputable: 'sô dich diu suht benasche (nibble at), daz dir hût und hâr abe gê!' skin and hair come off (see Suppl.).

Krampf, spasm, convulsion, in children usually freise, freisig, gefrais, Sup. I, 474. 722, fräsel, Jul. Schmidt p. 121 137. Schäuerchen, LG. schürken (jumping toothache, tic douloureux), liter. little shiver, twitch. But freis, frais often stands for epilepsy too (Abele's Gerichtsh. 2, 429. 4, 218. 311).

Leib-weh, grimmen (krimmen, Nethl. krimpen), gripes, belly-ache; die obere grimme, manns-mutter (Wier 107a); hachmutter, bärmund, bärmutter, Stald. 1, 136; 'the bermutter has bit me,' I have the colic, Schm. 1, 217; Austr. bervater and bermutter (Höfer 1, 77-8); tvärmund, Stald. 1, 334; trîbe, Fundgr. 321, 9 also means colic acc. to Hoffm. ---- Ruhr (dysentery), durchlauf, darmgicht (acc. to Gloss. Flor. 984a) ûzsuht, Gl. Flor. 984a zuzsuht; further, in Stald. aussucht (diarrh.). Rothe ruhr (bloody flux), 'der rothe schaden' (Anshelm 3, 236).

Lungensucht, AS. lungenâdl (pneumonia); 'schwinge- oder lunge-sucht' in Schweinichen 2, 256 is surely for schwinde-? In Austria 'der schwund,' our schwind-sucht consumption; Abele's Gerichtsh. 2, 303 says it seizes an ell's length of gut every year.

Seiten-stechen (pleuritis), OHG. stechido; M. Nethl. lanc-evel, Rein. 5401. Huyd. op St. 1, 569, from lanc, Fr. flanc, OHG. lancha = ilia, lumbus, but I have not found an OHG. lanch-upil morbus ilium.

Wasser-sucht, dropsy. OHG. has also wazar-chalp (water-calf) hydrops, Diut. 2, 181. Mone 8, 494; conf. mond-kalb (mola, caro in utero nascens), Melander's Joc. ii. no. 450, Engl. mooncalf, misbirth, about which there must be some floating mythical notions, for we also find a proper name Sonnenkalb, and aberkalb, afterkalb or eberkalb means an illegitimate child (see Suppl.).

For abortus we have misgeburt, fehlgeburt, miskram; verbs: to upset, tip over, spill, etc. 'zy heft de kar omgeworpen,' Tuinman's Spreekw. 1, 88; 'tis gone wrong with her, Schwein. 2, 314, conf. 321; not straight, Kantzow 2, 30; Dan. 'at giöre omslag'; of proper birth: to bring to the (right) place. Esth. tüyad nurgad (empty corners), mooncalf; 'ulle kätte minnema,' slip out of (miss) the hands, opp. to 'last pölwede peälet töstma,' get (lift) the child on the knee. We have: 'there's a row,' 'the house cracks' (the birth is near), 'the house has tumbled' (it is over), Sächs. prov. blätt. 14, 127; 'the oven breaks down,' Schm. 1, 33. In MHG. 'diu kamer wart entlochen,' unlocked, Mar. 46. Bermutter, which is used of colic, strictly denotes the hysterica passio, and is represented not only as a toad, Schm. 1, 188, but as a mouse that runs out of the body, and has a sword laid across the stream for it, Ettn. hebamme p. 194-5, as in the superstition described above, p. 1082 (see Suppl.).

Herz-gespan, tension of heart (cardialgia), herz-spann, Sup. I, 873. 949, otherwise herz-weh, herz-kulk (ventriculi colica): 'something lies and stands before my heart.' MHG. herze-swer; swer-mage, Diut. 2, 273. This is not the same thing as the heartworm, of which it is vulgarly supposed that every man has one in him, and would die if it crept out of his mouth (Ettn. hebamme p. 890), or got on his tongue, Chr. Weise's Drei klügste leute pp. 8. 9. The ancients called a swelling of the tongue batracoj and rana. The heiss-hunger (hot-), boulimoj, appetitus caninus, was also accounted for by an animal: 'vermis lacertae similis in stomacho hominis habitat,' Gl. Jun. 381. 'wir suln uns alle brœten, den zadelwurm tœten (kill) der uns dicke hât genâgen,' oft has gnawed us, Seifr. Helbl. 3, 247.

Headache, houbit-wê, Fundgr. 320-1; houbit-suht, Diut. 270; farren, Sup. I, 865. perh. the 'faren' of p. 1156. Tobe-suht (amentia), Iw. 3233, brain-sickness. Wirbel-sucht, vertigo, I, 436.

OHG. huosto, cough, MHG. huoste, our huste (in Zürich wüeste), ON. hôsti, AS. hwôsta, Engl. whoost. A cold in the head: schnupfe, schnaube, schnuder, in Switz. pfnüsel; Hildegard has nasebôz, coryza. MHG. strûche, Fundgr. 321, 1. Ls. 1, 403-4. Hoarseness; kramme, Fdgr. 322. Catarrh: OHG. tampho, Graff 5, 142, dumpho in Hildeg. St. Anthony's fire (because healed in his hospitals?): rothlauf, in Switz. wolken, fliegende wolke, flying cloud, Stald. 2, 456 (see Suppl.).

Gelbsuht, elephantiasis in Gl. Mons. 384; our gelbsucht is the jaundice. 'To fasten yellow smocks on folk,' is that to conjure the jaundice into them? Gelesuht and fîch are ficus morbus, piles, AS. fîc-âdl; in Altd. bl. 2, 199 'der rot vich' for hæmorrhoids; in Helbl. 2, 1190 'der rôte siechtuom und daz vîc macht iuch bleich unde gel.' ---OHG. misal-suht (lepra), Graff 2, 875; Goth. þruts-fill, which in Gramm. 2, 20 I traced correctly to þriutan (to trouble, tease, our driessen, verdruss), and 2, 598 recognised þruts as anom. Gen. for þrutis. Þruts is torment, vexation, and applied to sickness, leprosy; the OHG. form would be druzis-fel. In Slavic languages trud is trouble and illness, the Boh. trud having exactly the two meanings of dolor and lepra, Pol. trad eruption. OHG. hriupî (scabies), rûda (impetigo), Gl. Flor. 988b, zittarlûs, tetter-louse, ringworm (impetigo), Diut. 1, 496b. A modern slang term is schneider-courage (Adelung v. krätze), schneider-kurzweil, tailor's pastime (Ettn. unw. doct. 349). The AS. gicða (scabies, impetigo), Engl. itch, is the OHG. juchido, Graff 1, 593. The rose (erysipelas), running fire, ignis sacer (Ivonis epist. p. 85a. 184b), OHG. omo, AS. oma, ON. âma. Of red spots on a child's face they say 'the Jüdel has burnt him,' Sup. I, 473. AS. þeor, þeorweorc is inflammation, þeorwyrm impetigo vermicularis (9) (see Suppl.).

Stone, gravel, calculorum dolor: in Götz. v. Berlich. 103, 'der reissende (tearing) stein.'

A sort of excrescence or fungus (suam) was called mal-annus (das übel jâr), Spell VII; in Ratherii opp. ed Ballerini p. 15: 'carbunculi vel malae pustulae, quem malum vulgo dicunt malampnum.' And the plant used in healing it bore the name of malannus too, OHG. achalm, Graff 1, 132 (see Suppl.).

Many other names of diseases I suppress; a still greater number must have eluded my research. My design was, out of this neglected mine of wealth in our language to bring specimens that should prove what mythical fancies the people associated with the origin of diseases. Like other evils, they seemed to be destined and devised by gods, spirits, magicians; nay, to become themselves malign living agents (p. 1153). Much remains obscure: what is meant by ülfheit, that plague of plagues (p. 442n.)? what by the haupt-geschein which is exorcized in Ayrer's Fastn. sp. p. 148-9, and turns up in other stories too (Schm. 3, 366)? Now in Renner 12180 we find 'ir habt daz houbt-geschîde' (rh. vermîde), meaning apparently folly, infatuation. If 'head-sheen' be right, I would explain it by the OHG. houbet-skîmo (capitis radii), N. Cap. 63: for it is an ailment that throws a nimbus or nebula round one's head, and makes one see everything double; H. Sachs names it 'der plerr, augenplerr,' ii. 2, 27b. iii. 3, 9d. iv. 3, 13a,b , and we still say 'die blerr kriegen,' to be lost in amazement (blurred?). Eating chervil is supposed to produce this doubleness of vision, Fragm. 37b,c. Garg. 148a.




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