Talk:Irmin

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I must say that the supposed meaning of the word irmin combined with the supposed function of Irminsul makes it very unlikely that irmin was the name of a god. If irmin means whole and Irminsul was seen as uniting heaven and earth (pillar of the whole, I would suggest then) it is by far more plausible that a pantheistic idea was expressed, such as can be found amongst the Stoics, the Indians and even among some Roman commentators on religion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.65.192.85 (talk) 16:02, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Read somewhere that Irmin was also an epithet for Odin. Speaking of epithets and names - they were basically descriptive which is why there are so many gods with names that mean "mighty" or "bright" or whose names refer to height. Not that "Irmin" is not the only name where "tall" and "exalted" go together under the same definition for a word. Remember also when football players used to be described as being built like a brick wall - seems that you find similar comparisons between persons and solid objects in the ancient personal names which often use the same word for fortress and defender and who tend to see sturdy immovable objects, such as rocks and trees, as a signs of permanence of the present order. What starts off as a metaphor often turns into a personification and then into a god.

- / - irminsul (OS) (from) irminsaule (from) irmin saule=(orig) column of irmin, pillar of irmin, (later) the great pillar, the enormous column, column of the world, universal column, (later) world tree, sacred pillar of the saxon people, symbol of life and stability;

- (sul) - sul, saule=pillar, column; 00:06, 29 March 2008 (UTC)24.77.37.48 (talk)