Editing Æsir (section)

===Etymology===
[[File:Reykjavik - Thor-Figur 1.jpg|right|thumb|200px|upright=1.3|The [[Eyrarland Statue]], typically interpreted as depicting Thor. Thor's riding across the sky is likely reflected in the modern Swedish word for "thunderstorm" - {{langx|sv|åska}}, deriving from an earlier form meaning "the driving of the áss".]]

The modern English term "Æsir" is derived from the plural Old Norse term {{lang|non|æsir}}, the singular of which is {{lang|non|áss}}.{{sfn|áss}} In [[Old English]], the term used is the cognate {{lang|ang|ōs}} ({{plural form}} {{lang|ang|ēse}}){{sfn|Simek|2008|p=3}}{{sfn|Hall|2007|p=63}} In continental West Germanic languages, the word is only attested in personal and place names such as Ansila, Ansgeir and Anshram.{{sfn|Simek|2008|p=3}} The cognate term {{lang|la|Ansis}} was recorded as a Latinised form of an original [[Gothic language|Gothic]] word by [[Jordanes]], in the 6th century CE work [[Getica]], as a name for [[Euhemerism|euhemerised]] semi-divine early [[Goths|Gothic rulers]].{{sfn|Simek|2008|p=3}}{{sfn|Mierow|1915|p=3}}{{efn|
The reference in Getica is as follows:<br/>
{{langx|la|Tum Gothi haut segnes reperti arma capessunt primoque conflictu mox Romanos devincunt, Fuscoque duce extincto divitias de castris militum spoliant magnaque potiti per loca victoria iam proceres suos, quorum quasi fortuna vincebant, non puros homines, sed semideos id est Ansis vocaverunt.}}{{sfn|Getica (Latin)|at=ch&nbsp;13, 78}}
:
"But the Goths were on the alert. They took up arms and presently over-whelmed the Romans in the first encounter. They slew Fuscus, the commander, and plundered the soldiers’ camp of its treasure. And because of the great victory they had won in this region, they thereafter called their leaders, by whose good fortune they seemed to have conquered, not mere men, but demigods, that is Ansis."{{sfn|Mierow|1915|pp=72-73|loc=ch&nbsp;13, 78}}}} The [[Old High German]] is reconstructed as *''{{lang|goh|ans}}'', plural *''{{lang|goh|ensî}}''.{{sfn|Grimm|p=25}}

The corresponding feminine form in Old Norse is {{lang|non|ásynja}} ({{plural form}}:{{lang|non|ásynjur}}), formed by the addition of the {{lang|non|-ynja}} suffix, denoting a female form.{{sfn|Ás-ynja}} A [[cognate]] word for "female {{lang|non|áss}}" is not attested outside Old Norse, and a corresponding West Germanic word would have been separately derived with the feminine suffixes -''inī'' or -''injō''.{{sfn|Hellquist|1922}}

The [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] form is typically reconstructed as {{lang|gem-x-proto|[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/ansuz|ansuz]]}}.{{sfn|Kroonen|2013|p=30}}{{sfn|Silva|2006|p=396}} This form of the word is attested in Proto-Germanic during the [[Roman Empire|Roman Imperial Age]] as a component of the name of the goddess {{lang|gem-x-proto|Vih-ansa}} (potentially translating to "Battle-goddess") and probably also in an inscription from around 200 CE on a [[Vimose buckle|buckle from Vimose]] that reads ''a(n)sau wīja'' ("I dedicate this to the Æsir").{{sfn|Simek|2008|p=3}} The word {{lang|gem-x-proto|*ansuz}} is in turn is typically derived from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] *''[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂ems-|h₂ems-u-]]'', making the terms closely related to {{langx|sa|[[Asura|ásura]]}}, {{langx|ae|ahura}} ("god" or "lord") and {{langx|hit|ḫāši⁠}} ("to give birth" or "to beget").{{sfn|Kroonen|2013|p=30}} An alternative is that the terms for "Æsir" are related to {{lang|gem-x-proto|[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/ansaz|ans-]]}} ("beam" or "post"), the ancestor of {{langx|non|áss}} ("the main beam of a house").{{sfn|Simek|2008|p=3}}{{sfn|áss}} In this case, the name would likely have originated due to the equation of gods and [[Anthropomorphic wooden cult figurines of Central and Northern Europe|carved posts]] in [[Germanic paganism|Germanic religion]].{{sfn|Simek|2008|p=3}}

[[Snorri Sturluson]] and [[Saxo Grammaticus]] proposed that the term "Æsir" instead derives from "{{lang|non|Ásiamenn}} ("Asians"), and the idea that the gods originated in Asia, later migrating into [[Northern Europe]]. This is however not supported by modern scholars and attributed to medieval scholarship on the matter and an attempt to connect the Scandinavian peoples with [[Classical antiquity]] and [[Christianity]] rather than a reflection of actual Germanic mythology.{{sfn|Simek|2008|p=3}}