Loading AI tools
Fire-god in the Proto-Indo-European mythology From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
*H₁n̥gʷnis is the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European name of the fire god in Proto-Indo-European mythology.
The archaic Proto-Indo-European language (ca. 4500–4000 BC) had a two-gender system which originally divided words between animate and inanimate, a system used to distinguish a common term from its deified synonym. Therefore, fire as an animate entity and active force was known as *h₁n̥gʷnis, while the inanimate entity and natural substance was named *péh₂ur (cf. Greek: πυρ, pyr; English: fire).[1][2]
In some traditions, as the sacral name of the dangerous fire may have become a word taboo,[3] the stem *h₁n̥gʷnis served as an ordinary term for fire, as in the Latin ignis.[1]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.