Benct Philip Jonsson wrote:
> Or maybe it still is /dl/! BTW if Nimrína is
> supposed in Scandinavia -- *here* or somewhere
> *else* -- it might be a good touch to have an
> [r`] allophone of /l/, since [r`] for historical
> reasons functions as an allophone of /l/ in many
> Swedish and Norwegian dialects. At some point
> /rD/ became [r`], and at some later point this
> /r`/ and /l/ merged in some or all positions,
> leaving [r`] as the *only* allophone of /l/ in
> many dialects. (I myself have for some reason
> [r`] for /l/ only after labials, and [d`] for
> */rD/!) The putative presence in Scandinavia of
> a language without an r/l distinction may serve
> to 'explain' these strange historical mergers! :-)
In that case, I could have [r`] in place of [4] as the intervocalic
allophone of /l/. Or it could vary depending on the vowels. I seem to be
having a little difficulty pronouncing "tilin" (small) as [t_jir`in].
But pronouncing "hlýlu" (leaf) as [K1:r`u] or "zelen" (feather) as
[zEr`En] seems easier.
>> The absence of males in Swedish legend could simply be a result of
>> the rarity of encountering one in the first place.
>
> Yes, or maybe there is greater morphological difference
> between the sexes in huldrer than in humans, e.g. the
> males may be wholly fur-coated while the females are
> partially naked and so more human-like. This may
> cause humans not to recognize that they are the same
> species. It might also mean that while the females
> appear sexually enticing to humans the males don't,
> and are perhaps not perceived as human-like at all.
> More on that below.
Interesting idea, but I was thinking more of people who could pass
themselves off as human (if they wear clothing that hides their tails).
Maybe a small group of them could have come across the Atlantic with the
other Scandinavian immigrants to the US.
> I can't help think of images I've seen of American Indians
> wearing wolf skins with the wolf's head as a hood and the
> tail hanging down their back. In Norse tradition there is
> the _úlfheðinn_, a berserk in hairy wolfskin jacket. There
> are archeological finds depicting such figures, looking
> like men with wolfs head and tail(*). Maybe this is the male
> of the species. The thought that the male of the species
> is behind the belief in werewolves would not be too great
> a leap! There is _huldumaðr_ 'cairn-troll' in my Old Norse
> to Norwegian dictionary, but that would seem to relate
> primarily to the Irish-influenced Icelandic huldufólk.
But this brings up another possibility; they may have had populations in
both continents from way back in the Atlantean days (if I go with the
idea that they're related to the Atlanteans).