Re: OT: terms for people with different hair colours

Den 20. okt. 2008 kl. 19.25 skreiv Eldin Raigmore:
>
> Earlier than that, before the barbarian invasions of the Western
> Roman Empire, most ethnic groups were in-bred enough that
> differences in hair-color, other than those due to age, would not
> have been common, either.
Fair hair is a typical Germanic and Celtic trait, but not exclusive
to them (or us). In ancient times, fair hair was pretty common in the
Balkan - Anatolia region. The Greeks thought yellow hair was typical
for Thracians. Possibly, Democritus was a blond.

> Did any Classical languages have such terms?  Other than
> "greybeard" and the like?
Homer used various epithets to characterise his gods and other
characters, and some of them were about hair colour. It won't take
you long to find them in the Iliad at least.

LEF