Re: CHAT: Subtitles (was: Re: Proto-Romance)

Quoting Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>:

> At 21:42 27.3.2004, John Cowan wrote:
>
> >Benct Philip Jonsson scripsit:
> >
> >> Oh yes, but usually in the compound _Norrbaggar_.
> >
> >Norwegian Bulgarians, is it?  Hm.  IB's Scots of Egypt have nothing on
> that!
>
> No.  Superficially it looks like 'North-rams', and the singular
> exists too, but I strongly suspect that _baggar_ in this case
> is a corruption of Old Norse _baglar_ 'bishop's staffs' which
> was the name of one of the political parties in medieval Norway.*
> FWIW I'd bet some money that _bagall_ is a cognate of English
> _bagel_, due to the shape no doubt.
According to Dick Harrison, in "Jarlens sekel", _baggar_ (sg _bagge_)
originally refered specifically to a ram's testes, and this was felt to be a
fitting epithet for Norwegians. Does sound a bit far-fetched to me.

                                                   Andreas