The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.0071  Thursday, 13 January 2005

From:           David Crystal <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Wednesday, 12 Jan 2005 18:48:43 -0000
Subject: 16.0065 Macbeth Characters
Comment:        RE: SHK 16.0065 Macbeth Characters

While you can never trust spellings - least of all in traditionally
spelled Gaelic! - you might like to know that 'gruagach' is Gaelic for a
damsel or a household goddess, and in its adjectival use means someone
with a beautiful head of hair! The similarly spelled 'grugach' means
sullen or surly, and was especially applied to women. There's nothing
exactly like Gruoch, though, in any of my dictionaries.  It's probably
just a personal name, and related to other Germanic names, such as Old
Norse Grua. (We can ignore the proposal that someone once made that it
was just a misspelling of Grouch! That word didn't arrive in English
until the 19th century.)

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