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842 DEATH.
(orig. todu) masc., OS. dod, doff, AS. dedff, ON. dauffi, all masc.,
the M. Nethl. dot having alone preserved the fern, gender, which
is however compatible with the Gothic form. The verb in Gothic
is diva, dan (morior), standing in the same relation to OvrjcrKo),
eOavov, Odvaros as the Gothic Tiv to the Slavic dan (dajr, p. 195).
The ON. dau$i I find used only of the condition, not of the
person, while the Goth, ddupus does express the latter in 1 Cor.
15, 55 (see Suppl.).
To this affinity of words corresponds a similarity of senti
ments. The most prominent of these in our old poets seem to
be the following.
As all spirits appear suddenly? so does Death; no sooner
named or called, than he comes :
*
hie ndhet der Tot manigem
manne/ Roth. 277 b . daz in ndhet der Tot/ Nib. 2106, 4. do
ndhte im der Tot 2002, 3. Mors praesens, Walthar. 191. der
Tot get dir vaste zuo/ Karl 69 b . He
lurks in the background
17. dem Tode
as it were, waiting for call or beck (Freidank 177,
winken/ beckon to D., Renn. 9540). Like fate, like Wurt, he is
or will
nigh and at hand (p. 406).
Like the haunting homesprite
o wisp, he rides on people s necks : der Tot mir sitzet uf dem
kragen, 1
Kolocz. 174. stet vor der tur, Diut. 2, 153. A story in
Reusch (no. 36) makes Death sit outside the door, waiting
to open ; he therefore catches the soul as it goes out.
for it
Luckless life-weary men call him to their side, complain of his
take thy share of me,
12. wd nu
delay : Tot, nu nim din teil an mir ! now
Wh. 61, 2. Tot, daz du mich nu kanst ! sparn 61,
3 f
Tot, du nim mich hin ! Ecke 145. Mort, qar me si
pren, me
delivre ! Ren. 9995. Mors, cur tarn sera venis ? Rudl. 7, 58.
6 we Tot, dazt ie so lange min verbsore ! shouldst forbear,
shun me, MsH. 1, 89 a . por ce requier a Dieu la mort/ Meon
nouv. rec. 2, 241. We know the Aesopic fable of the old man
and Thanatos. To wish for death is also called seeking Deathf
sending for Death, having him fetched : ja wsonet des der degen,
1
Supra p. 325. Eeinhart p. liii. cxxx. ; like Night, Winter, and the Judgmentday,
Death breaks in.
2 So beasts of prey are invited, Er. 5832 : wd nu hungerigiu tier, bede wolf
und ber, iwer einez (one of you) kume her und ezze uns beide !
3 Straparola 4, 5 tells of a young man who from curiosity started off to hunt
up Death.