Etymological Analysis of the Mythonym OPr. Patollo

Abstract

Referring to etymological analysis, the author of this article presents a new hypothesis concerning the origin of the Old Prussian (OPr.) mythological name Patollo ‘a deity of the dead’ found in “Prussian Chronicle” (“Preussische Chronik”) written by the Dominican priest, Simon Grunau. It is to be assumed that the form patollum, earlier recorded in the fragment of “Collatio Episcopi Warmiensis facta coram Summo pontifice per dominum Andream plebanum in Danczk” (1418), was erroneously ascribed to theonyms by Grunau. The analysis refers to the description of derivatives and semantic development of this mythonym. While summing up the research results, one may conclude that a mythological name such as OPr. Patollo belongs to lexemes of Latin origin. More precisely, this mythonym is derived from a Medieval Latin (MLat.) adverb patulo ‘in many places; openly, clearly, in public’, which in the course of history was changed to MLat. patollu ‘ditto’, that is, a metathetical form with transposed medial/final vocalic elements of the second and last syllables. Thus, the fragment of “Collatio Episcopi Warmiensis…” “expulsi (!) sunt gentes seruientes demonibus colentes patollum Natrimpe et alia ignominiosa fantasmata” is to be translated in a well-formed and fluent way, i.e., banished are the peoples who worship demons and idolise Natrimpe and other ignominious phantoms in public. The Old Prussian mythologeme Patollo is a a pseudomythologeme invented by Grunau.