TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. - Centrostudirpinia.it

SACRIFICE. 35
in (to the nuns) waren de munde so royt,
so wes si god baden,
of syt mit vlize daden,
he id in nummer inkunde
dem rosenroten munde
bedelicher dinge versagen.
Ged. von der vrouwen sperwere, Cod. berol. 184, 54 d . Hence
Mfen singen, MS. 1, 57 a . 2, 42 b . Conf. cento novelle 61. 1
:
SACRIFICE. The word opfer, a sacrifice, was introduced into
German by Christianity, being derived from the Lat. offero. offe/rre?
The AS. very properly has only the verb offrian and its derivative
offrung (oblatio).
In OHG., from opfaron, opforon there proceeded
also a subst. opfar, MHG. ophern and opher 3 and from Germany
the expression seems to have spread to neighbouring nations, ON".
offr t Swed. Dan. offert Lith. appiera, Lett, uppuris, Esth. ohwer, Fin.
uhri, Boh. ofera, Pol. qfiara, Sloven, ofer. Everywhere the original
heathen terms disappeared (see Suppl.).
The oldest term, and one universally spread, for the notion to
worship (God) by sacrifice, was llotan (we do not know if the
Goth. pret. was baiblot or blotaida) ; I incline to attach to it the
full sense of the Gk. Oveirf (see Suppl.). Ulphilas saw as yet no
objection to translating by it cre/Bea-Oat, and \arpevew, Mk. 7, 7.
1
Mock-piety, hypocrisy, was branded in the Mid. Ages likewise, by strong
phraseology : er wil gote die fueze abezzen (eat the feet off), Ls. 3, 421. Fragm.
28*. Mones anz. 3, 22. unserm Herrgott die fuess abbeissen wollen (bite off),
Schmeller 2, 231. den heiligen die fuss abbeten wollen (pray the saints feet off
them), Simplic. 1. 4, 17. herrgottbeisser, Hofer 2, 48. herrgottfisler (fiiszler),
Schmid 1, 93. heiligenfresserin, 10 ehen, p. 62. So the Ital. mangiaparadiso,
Fr. mangeur de crucefix, Boh. Pol. liciobrazek (licker of saints). A sham
saint is
indifferently termed kapeltrete, tempeltrete, tempelrinne, Hones schausp.
p. 123. 137 (see Suppl.).
2 Not from operari, which in that sense was unknown to the church, the
.Romance languages likewise using It. offerire, Sp. ofrecer, Fr. offrir, never
operare, obrar, ouvrer ; the same technical sense adheres to offerta, ofrenda,
o/rande. From oblata come the Sp. oblea, Fr. oublie, and perhaps the MHG.
oblei, unless it is from eulogia, oblagia. From offre and offerta are formed the
Wei. offryd, Ir. oifrion, aifrion, offrail. Lastly, the derivation from ferre,
offerre, is confirmed by the German phrase ein opfer bringen, darbringen.
3
Ophar, opfer could hardly be the Goth, aibr dwpov,
in which neither the
vowel nor the consonant agrees. The Wei. abert, Gael, iobairt, Ir. iodbairt,
(sacrificium) probably belong also to offerta.
4
^When Sozomen hist. eccl. 6, 37 in a narrative of Athanaric uses Trpocncvi/eii/
/cat 6viv , the Gothic would be inveitan jah blotan.