Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1976, Page 68

76
Faroese Bird-Name Origins (VI)
large species particularly sought after by fowlers, i. e. the
guillemot. And since this species and the razorbill were traditio-
nally associated, stórfuglur automatically covered both species.
Such a name would perhaps co^itrast, at least by implication,
with smáfuglur ‘little bird’, presumably the puffin, that other
common object of the fowler’s efforts.
A term like the present reminds one cogently of similar
rather imprecise-sounding names known to have evasive conno-
tations. We imagine that stórfuglur, too, will ultimately belong
to this category.
Storkur ‘stork’ — a notable sequel
In Fróð., xxii, 111 f., we showed that this Common Ger-
manic name literally means ‘stick’ or the like, a nickname moti-
vated by the bird’s habit of resting on one leg. It was observed
that German dialect preserves meanings close to the basic sense,
namely Tirolese ‘stem; tree-stump’, Bavarian ‘fishing rod’,
further medieval Ger. Storch ‘penis’.
It may interest readers to learn that this etymology has,
in turn, lead to the solution of an outstanding problem of
European folklore. We refer to the popular tradition that the
stork brings the babies. The reason for this and associated
notions has hitherto remained a total mystery, see Handwórter-
buch des deutschen Aberglaubens, viii, 501.
My colleague, Dr S. Lucas, however, now draws attention
to the medieval sense of Storch (above) and notes that in
former times the word thus signified both ‘stork’ and ‘penis’.
Here is an obvious link between the bird name and a sexual
organ, and evidently the beginning of the involvement of the
stork in the baby business. The sense ‘penis’ occurs in the phrase
des Mannes Storch (M. Lexer, Mittelhochdeutsches Hand-
wórterbuch), the source being Codex germanicus monacensis
317, 71, an Austrian medical miscellany from the first half of
the 15th century. It is reasonable to assume that the tradition
in question is at least as old as this. Furthermore, in the present