GENERAL WORDS FOR SEX AND KINSHIP 179 



the tree notion only has survived in most Aryan tongues 

 (Gothic triu, Danish trae, Slavonic drevo, Greek $pv$, 

 Sanskrit dru, ddru, etc., wood, tree, although these 

 have been connected with the root dar, to split, tear). 

 The notion of hold, keep, is widely retained, as in 

 Opovos, a chair, throne, Latin jirmus &ndfretus, a bridle, 

 and Sanskrit dhar, fix. Then we have the long series 

 of Teutonic roots : O.H.G. treuwa, Friesian triuwa, A.S. 

 treop, 0. Icel. trA, German treue, English truth and 

 troth, with the verbs, O.H.G. triuwen, 0. Icel. trua, 

 Gothic trauan, A.S. treafrian, English trow, etc. The 

 general notion, as in treowscipe and trdleikr, is that of 

 firmness, fidelity. It might at first be supposed that a 

 formal plighting of fidelity was sufficient to explain the 

 use of the root trewa in the sense of marriage, thus 

 German trauen, English troth, and Dutch trowen, used 

 in the sense of marry. But the remarkable feature of 

 the use of this word for marry is this, that as we trace 

 that use backwards, it appears to point more and more 

 to a temporary or illicit sexual union arising from 

 familiarity or confidence, and not to a permanent 

 marriage. In the laws of the Langobard Liutprand 

 (A.D. 723) triuuva is used of a peace - pledge, and 

 in O.H.G. katriuuete denotes men who are thus linked 

 together, foederati. Thus the Heliand describes Christ's 

 disciples as triuwiston man, and causes the cen- 

 turion of Capernaum to say that he has erld gitrost. 

 This Old Saxon gitrost, O.H.G. trust and trustis, has 

 the sense of auxilium, clientela, or following, those 

 fixed or bound by some form of pledge to a chief. 

 O.N. traust is protectio, refugium, and O.H.G. trdst, 



