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*Druhtinaz (Old English: dryhten, Old Norse: dróttinn, Old Middle English: drihten, Middle English: driȝten) is a Proto-Germanic term meaning a military leader or warlord and is derived from *druhti "war band" and the "ruler suffix" -īna- (c.f. Wōd-īna-z).
Contents
Forms
Etymology
The same word existed in Old Saxon: drohtin, druhtin, Old English: dryhten, Old High German: truhtîn, trohtîn, trehtîn, trehten (Low German Drost, Early Modern Bavarian German Droste, Drossaard Dutch Trecht, Yiddish Trechtein). The word comes from Proto-Germanic *druhtīnaz and is derived from *druhti "war band" and the "ruler suffix" -īna- (c.f. Wōd-īna-z).
Reflexes of *druhti itself are found in Icelandic: drótt, Old English: dryht, driht, Old High German: truht (surviving into 19th-century Swiss German as Trucht "ruffians, scallywags "). In Gothic appears the verb driugan meaning "to do military service". In Old English dréogan (Modern English drudge/drudgery, and dialectal dree) and in Icelandic drýgia(n) appear, both meaning "to perform". The root is the same as in Slavic drug meaning "companion" (see druzhina). Old Norse drôttseti, Old High German truhtsâzzo and trohtsâzzo (Modern German Truchsess) is the term for the office of maior domus.
Anthroponymy
This same word was commonly used as personal name in Galicia, during the Early Middle Ages, in the form Tructino (origin of modern Galician surname Troitiño) together with other related names such as Tructemiro, Tructesindo, Tructesenda f. or Tructu, of probable Suevi origin.
Mythology
In the Heimskringla, Snorri Sturluson wrote that Domar married Drott, the daughter of Danp who was the son of Ríg (Heimdall).
Snorri wrote:
Dygvi's mother was Drótt, a daughter of King Danp, the son of Ríg, who was first called konungr in the Danish tongue. His descendants always afterwards considered the title of konungr the title of highest dignity. Dygvi was the first of his family to be called konungr, for his predecessors had been called dróttinn ['chieftain'], and their wives dróttning, and their court drótt ['war band']. Each of their race was called Yngvi, or Ynguni, and the whole race together Ynglingar. Queen Drótt was a sister of King Dan Mikillati, from whom Denmark took its name.Current usage
In current Icelandic the word Drottinn is used for "The Lord" meaning God. The Scandinavian word for Queen, drottning/dronning is derived from this title. Similarly, in Ukrainian druzhina (uk:дружина) means a spouse (wife).
In Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian "druzhina" (družina) means war band.
But to confuse this topic a bit: in the Scandinavian Bronze Age and Iron Age a wife of the Kuningaz, or Druhtinaz was called as Kwēniz, (kven, cwen, queen). Kwēnizes were not like monarchic queens of our modern times, but more like matriarchs of the clan and absolute housekeepers of the Viking court when the lord was on his long annual travels. Kwēnizes were once the most independent, powerful and famous females at northern Europe representing the ancient way from Scandinavian Iron Ages of husband and wife living together as equals, just having their own fields of tasks, duties and rights.
The Finnish word ruhtinas, denoting a high lord or Sovereign Prince, is an early loanword from Germanic. Finnish is not an Indo-European language and therefore unrelated to Germanic.