TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. - Centrostudirpinia.it

138 WODAN.
The sum total of well-being and blessedness, the fulness of all
graces, seems in our ancient language to have been expressed by a
single word, whose meaning has since been narrowed down ; it was
named wunsck (wish). This word is probably derived from wunja,
in whatever
wunnja, our wonne, bliss ; wunisc, wunsc, perfection
kind, what we should call the Ideal. Thus, Er. 1699 der wunsch
was an ir garwe, wish was in her complete ; Iw. 3991 daz mir des
wunsches niht gebrast, nought of wish was wanting; Iw. 6468
der rat, des der wunsch an wibe gert/ such store as wish can
crave in wife ; Gerh. 1754 an der got wunsches niht vergaz/ in
whom God nought of wish forgot (left out) ; Parz. 742, 15 der
wunsch wirt in beiden ; Trist. 3710 dir ist der wunsch gegeben ;
Frauend. 87 der wunsch von edlem obze, the pick of noble fruit ;
Parz. 250, 25 erden wunsches riche, rich in all gifts of the earth ;
235, 24, erden wunsches iiberwal ; Trist. 4696. 4746 der wunsch
von worten, von bluomen ; Trist. 1374 in dem wunsche sweben,
i.e.,in perfect satisfaction. And the magic wand, by whose impact
treasures are acquired, was a wunschiligerta, wishing-rod ; conf.
Parz. 235, 22 wurzel unde ris des wunsches/ root and spray of
wish. The (secondary) meaning of desiring and longing for
these perfections would seem to have but accidentally attached
itself to the wunsc, OK osk (see Suppl.).
Among other Eddie names of OSinn, appears Osci, Ssem. 46b .
Sn. 3, 24, i.e. he who makes men partakers of wunsch, of the
highest gift.
Osk, gen. Oskar, a woman s name, Fornm. sog. 1, 246.
Eyrbyggja saga cap. 7. Laxd. p. 12.
Another thing seems to me to be connected with this, and there
fore to be a relic of the heathen religion : the fact that our poets of
the 13th century personify wunsch, and represent it as a mighty
creative being. Instances in proof of this are found chiefly in
Hartmann, Rudolf and Conrad :
Got erloubte dem Wunsche iiber About him, God gave to Wish
in,
full leave,
daz er lib unde sin that he body and mind
meistert nach sim werde. fashioned according to his worth,
swa von ouch uf der erde Of whatsoever upon earth,
deheinem man ze loben geschiht,
desn gebrast im niht ;
to any man, praiseworthy falls,
thereof lacked him nought ;
der Wunsch liet in gemeistert so Wish had him fashioned so,