Origin of Mythologij. 157 



.11 light, f)r that which shines ; heron., parchment, the root 

 of mcmbrana, from its clearness, a word whose origin I 

 have never seen expbined ; ar.d it is the same in both 

 dialects of Ethiopia. Now it is remarkable that in this 

 dialect, hart or bert^ sig;nifies iron, and berto^ is fortis, 

 brave-; the verb beri., is to acquire strength, and bertct, 

 is force, strength, hardness, fortitude. Who does not 

 see in these words the Latin TJ?Vt- us, fort-h, fortit-udo ; 

 the Italian Jbrza, force ; and the French and English, 

 brave^ in berhe, or barhe^ bright ? 



It will perhaps be suggested that vires, virtus^ fortis, 

 originated in vir^ a man, and this, in the Hebrew i3j, ge- 

 ber, to be strong : But I am satisfied that these words 

 conveying the idea of strength or courage, are all from 

 the radical sense of •«> bright, to be shining, splendor. 



Men, in their primitive state, had no words to express 

 abstract ideas. They first gave names to visible objects, 

 qualities and actions ; and to express abstract ideas or 

 moral qualities, used some word expressing an idea of a 

 sensible object or qu-ality, which, in their opinion, had 

 some analogy or similitude to the abstract idea. Now 

 what terms so naturally express strength and bravery, as 

 those which signify that striking visible quality, bright- 

 ness, splendor ? We observe the same connection of 

 ideas still in use among our common people, who char- 

 acterize a person of unusual powers of mind or body, by 

 the epithet bright — he is a bright felloxv, or a bright 

 genius. 



It is a fact confirmatory of this opinion, that among all 

 the Celtic nations, the Latin vir, or the equivalent term, 

 was pronounced baro, or bero, precisely the Ethiopic and 

 Amharic barhe,OY berhe, bright.* In the authors of the 

 middle ages, the word is written baro, varo, varro, herd, 

 hir^ paro, and viro or viron. See Spelman's Glossary, 



* " Concurritur ad Cassium defendendum ; semper enim berones, 

 eompluresqiie evocatos cum telis secum ha')ere consueverat." Hirt. 

 Pansae de Bel. Alex. 42. These dnroncs, barons, were the retainers 

 or body guards of the German chiefs, young men of distinguished 

 bravery, mentioned by TiK-itus. " Principum, cui plurimi et acer- 

 riml ccmites, hsec di!);nitas, hse vires, m?.gno semper electorum ju- 

 venum, globe circumdari, in pace decus. In bello prsBsidiurn"....De 

 MoY. Germ. 14. 



