wudu-rōfe

Old-English: wuduhofe, wuduhrofe, wudurife, wuduroue, vodehofe, vuderofe, vuderoue, wuderofe, wuderoue,

Latin (Machine generated): AFFODILLUS, ALTILIA REGIA, APODILLIS, ASTULA REGIA, MALACHINA GRIA, OSTRIOLUM,

• →-rōfe;
• →wudu;

• A: plant: native
  Galium odoratum (L.) Scop., woodruff, Waldmeister
• B: plant: foreign
  Asphodelus L., asphodel, a species of ~, Affodil, eine Art von ~

• Comment on (A): Galium odoratum (L.) Scop., woodruff, Waldmeister

  The identification is based on the ME and ModE plant names woderowe and woodruff, which generally denote G. odoratum. Cf. the Agnus Castus (Brodin 1950,163): Hastilogia is an herbe þat men clepe woderowe þis herbe hagt lewys lyk to croyswourth. Brodin (1950,270) identifies the plant name hastilogia with G. odoratum. Cf. Britten / Holland (1886,569): Woodrip, woodrowe, woodruff, all denote G. odoratum. Also cf. Hunger (1935,167): LIV: ASTULA REGIA = G. odoratum. Laud 155: L-Gk MOLOCHĒ AGRIA generally denotes wild Malva species (cf. André 1985, s.v. MOLOCHĒ), there is no connection to Asphodelus species: the equation ASTULA REGIA = MALOCHIN AGRIA seems to be an error as it is not recorded in any older texts. But the equation MUSGA hints at a possible connection of Galium and Malva species: MUSGA seems to be identical with L HERBA MUSCHATA (= G. odoratum), recorded in Cockayne (1962,III,349)[1]; cf. the G names Mösch, Mösecke, etc., which are related to ML MUSCUS 'musk, Moschus' and refer to the fragrant odor of the plant,[2] which can easily be associated with the fragrance of Malva moschata L., musk mallow, Moschusmalve (cf. Marzell 2000,III,31).

  Etymology: could the name be related to OE rōf 'famous, berühmt'? A lit. translation of the plant name would then be ‚the wood famous, die Waldberühmte; cf. NHG Waldmeister, ML MATRISYLVA, FR reine des bois (cf. Marzell 2000,1,470).

• Comment on (B): Asphodelus L., asphodel, a species of ~, Affodil, eine Art von ~

  According to Förster (1917,128) ASTULA REGIE is often equated with ασφόδελος in L-Gk glossaries and therefore denotes an Asphodelus species. Also cf. Dur 15, 21, 36, 48, 230, 262 and esp. the note on Dur 15. The only argument against this identification could be the fact that the plant is a native to the Mediterranean, where it was frequently used for dietary and medical purposes, and is not known wild in England[3] whereas wudu- hints especially at a wild growing plant. Based on these facts we assume that the OE glossators did not know the meaning of ASPHODELUS or HASTULA REGIA and chose the gloss wudurofe because of its equation with MOLOCHE AGRIA (HA 52,8: ASTULA REGIA = MOLOCINAGRIAN). According to André (1985, s.v. HASTULA REGIA) this plant name can either be identified with an Asphodelus species or probably with Salvia sclarea L., clary, Muskatellersalbei. OSTRICIUM seems to be identical with OSTRIACA, OSTIRIACA, which are synonyms of MOLOCE AGRIA (HA 40,n.20). Hunger (1935,167), following Cockayne suggests Asphodelus ramosus L., branched asphodel, Ästiger Affodil, an identification which de Vriend (1984,269) wrongly attributes to Bierbaumer. Förster suggests that the name could denote a completely different bulbous plant.

  Etymology: the etymology of the primary word -rōfe is not clear; Förster (1917,129) assumes an original -hrōfe (also cf. note on Dur 15) but this is not conclusive. Maybe we should assume an original name wudurife (cf. LB 20/22) for G. odorata, a name which would perfectly suit this plant (cf. →hege-rife), and an original name wudurofe for Asphodelus or similar tubers (-rōfe = ‚turnip, Rübe'; cf. Holthausen 1974,s.v. rofe). Wudurife would have been transformed analog to wudurofe in Anglo-Saxon times, while hegerife was influenced by the name wuduroue in the Middle English period: cf. the name hayroue s.v. →hege-rife. In the end the process of alternately influencing morphemes is dominated by ō-forms as the variants for giþrife recorded in LA (gyþhrōfe, giþhrōfe) and the ME forms of OE →hege-rife account for. Because there are three different forms (-rife, -rofe, hrofe), we have to assume folk-etymological influences.

• Etymology: Etymology-Comment:
• Word-Formation:
• Word-Formation-Comment: