# ιλμη



## zylo

Hello,

I'm currently seeking information about the word ιλμη.  The letters are Iota, Lamba, Mu, Eta.

The small Greek dictionaries that I've tried do not have it listed, so it doesn't seem to be a common word.

The Oxford Greek-English Lexicon lists it as commonly associated with the words bond (δϵσμοs) and spark (σϵιρα).  It lists as a reference the _Theognosti Canones_ (#15), as published by Dr. J A Cramer in his 1835 _Anecdota Graeca Oxoniensa_.  However, that reference doesn't assist me much, as Cramer's four-volume work isn't available in my area. Nevertheless, since Theognostus's time was the 9th century AD, I know that ιλμη is likely to be Ancient Greek.

The context of ιλμη is in the phrase "ιλμη guard".  It's listed as a status of a character who transforms into various Greek creatures.

My best guess is that ιλμη means something like "spirit".  Therefore, a spirit guard would be a type of personal bodyguard.  The term spirit may be practical, in the sense that the guard protects one's mood and emotions, or it may be literal, in the sense that it's a heavenly guard that protects the manifest spirits of the dead or divine.

Any information would be appreciated.  Thank you.


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## anthodocheio

Hi!
I don't have a dictionary for ancient Greek and in internet I only managed to find this, where it's used as a name.
I'm afraid even if exists in internet (written with spirits and everything) will be hard to find. Do you thing it could be here?


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## zylo

Yes, there is almost nothing about it on the Internet.  I think that it may be necessary to consult an Ancient Greek dictionary.  Thank you for checking, though.

As a footnote, the word "alma" means "soul" in Spanish.   ιλμη might have been pronounced "ilmai".


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## ireney

The only thing my dictionary has for ίλμη (ἲλμη with the breathing accent noted) is that it means bond (δεσμός) and order/turn (or whatever other translation of σειρά you like) and that it is found in  Theognostus Canones (Canons?) #15.
I haven't been able to find any other reference to it and I couldn't find Theognostus' text online.


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## modus.irrealis

My library has access to an online collection of Greek texts and here's the reference, but it's not very helpful:

Ἡ ι συλλαβὴ εἴτε κατ’ ἀρχὴν λέξεως, εἴτε κατὰ τὸ μέσον ἐν ἁπλῇ καὶ ἀκινήτῳ λέξει λήγουσα εἰς ρ, ἢ εἰς ἕν τι τῶν ἀμεταβόλων τῆς ἑξῆς συλλαβῆς ἀρχομένης ἐκ συμφώνου, διὰ τοῦ ι γράφεται· καὶ κατ’ ἀρχὴν μὲν λέξεως· ἴννος· Ἴμβρος· ἰνδάλω· ἴνδαλμα· Ἰνδός· ἴνδικτος· Συλιμβρία· Κιμμέριος· σκίνπους· στίλβων· στιλβανός· οἰκτίρμων· σκιρτῶ· κιρνῶ· κίρκος· θίῤῥον τὸ τρυφερόν· ἰλκαγλοιός, ῥύπος· ἴλλον, πλάγιον, στραβόν· ἰλλάδας ἀγελαίας, διεστραμμένας· Ἰλλυρίς· *ἰλμη*δεσμὸς, σειρά· ἴννος ὁ ἐξ ὄνου θηλείας καὶ ἵππου, ἢ τὸ ἐν τῇ κυήσει νοσῆς βρέφος· [...]

It's basically a rule for how to write the _ sound and this gives conditions where it's spelt with ι, and ἰλμηδεσμός is given as an example. At least this explains the entry in my dictionary which says:

*ἴλμη·* δεσμός, σειρά, Theognost.Can.15 (ἰλμηδεσμός cod.).

but I wonder how people know that ἴλμη is its own word and that δεσμός is one of its meanings. I searched the collection and the word doesn't appear in any of the other texts. Was it in a Greek text you saw the association with guard?_


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## wonderment

It seems to me that σειρά (cord or rope) is a gloss on ἰλμηδεσμὸς, which looks like a compound of ἰλμη and δεσμὸς (clearly a separate word, meaning a type of bond—mooring-cable, yoke-strap, door-latch, chains, etc...) 

“ὁ ἐξ ὄνου θηλείας καὶ ἵππου, ἢ τὸ ἐν τῇ κυήσει νοσῆς βρέφος” looks like a gloss on ἴννος. 
τὸ τρυφερόν, ῥύπος, πλάγιον, στραβόν, and διεστραμμένας also seem like glosses of the examples given; they can’t be examples themselves of the basic rules you alluded to. Just my opinion. 

We still don’t know the meaning of ἰλμη, only that it’s connected with rope and bonding somehow. I don’t think it means anything like a guardian spirit; the word for that is δαίμων. The word for soul/spirit is ψυχή.


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## anthodocheio

So ἰλμηδεσμὸς means σειρά. Isn't it?


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## wonderment

Well... not quite. A gloss is supposed to explain the difficult word in some way, not necessarily give a direct definition. I think σειρά is a gloss on ἰλμηδεσμὸς because I don’t know why else it’s there; unlike ἰλμηδεσμὸς, it’s not an example of how the _ sound is written with a iota. The gloss would also help explain how those words end up together in a lexicon._


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## Spectre scolaire

The word we’re dealing with looks like a _gloss_ which has fallen out of Hesych.  Perhaps one should indeed check Hesych. The new edition (in progress) should cover the letter _iota_. 

This word seems a bit fishy to me in the first place...
 ​


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## zylo

Thank you to everyone for checking, especially modus.irrealis and wonderment.

I mentioned in my original post that the context is a character than can transform into Greek creatures/monsters.  It turns out that "ίλμη guard" was an example of me placing too much weight on the context.  Although the context was Greek myths, that particular word was another type of myth.  It was a creature of *Norse* myth, a giant serpent called Jormungandr.

Wikipedia has a nice little page on Jormungandr.  The bottom of the Wikipedia page notes that this name is often mistranslated, so I was not the first to make that error.  

Spectre scolaire was correct that the word was so obscure that I needed to re-evaluate the source material, and for me to visit libraries for Ancient Greek dictionaries was a bit of a red herring.

However, in the process, I have gained much appreciation for the Greek language.  I thought that ἰλμηδεσμὸς meant "spirit bond", although it's interesting how wonderment suggested more literal words like "mooring-cable".

The WordReference forums are a good community.  I hope to contribute in the future.


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