Note 52 — Chapter IX
Reading edition
The word Áss, pl. Asar and Æsir, is explained by Jornandes, “Gothi proceres suos quasi qui fortunâ vincebant non pares homines sed semideos, i.e. Anses (Ans in Mæso-Gothic) vocavere.” Suetonius makes Æsar an Etruscan word which meant God (probably a plural of Kelt. Es). We find forms of it in the Mongolian dialects, and in the Aryan, Sanskrit (Asura), Keltic, Teutonic (Æsir), German (Anshelm, p. n.), and even in the English Osborn and Oswald. As appears to correspond with the Semitic Al, but the word is still involved in mystery.