Ram-hund

Secondo il Dizionario dell'Inglese Antico:

ram-hund

Add: The true form of the word, which is given only in comparatively modern MSS., is doubtful. Rain-, raine-hound, as well as ram-hundt, occur (ram-. In a MS. of much earlier date (13th cent.) it is said: Canem, qui in pluuia sine alicuius cura, uigilat, quem Angli dicunt renhund (rén-, regn- ? or could ren = ærn. Cf. ren-degen), xii d., Lbmn. 367, n. Liebermann suggests that the correct form would be hrán-hund, a reindeer-hound, but as in the same passage the payment for a slain greyhound is lxxx d. , it seems hardly likely that any kind of deerhound could be compensated for by so small a sum as xii d. It is also said: Si quis canem, qui custodire domini sui caulas et lupum abigere, occiderit, persoluat domino canis vi sol. Perhaps the rain-hound was an outdoor watch-dog? or a house-dog? ram-hund

Parole correlate: Ll. Lbmn. 626, 2), and these seem to represent the original word more nearly than does