This Anglo-Saxon word is used in the poetry of Beowulf and Cædmon, and
in the prose of Orosius and Bede, &c. The _â_ in _gâr_ is twice accented
in Cædmon; and Mr. Kemble has always accented it in Beowulf. In the
Lauderdale MS. of Orosius it is written _garsæcg_ and _garsecg_; and in
the Cotton MS. _garsegc_ and _garsecg_, without any accent. Grimm,
Kemble, and Ettmüller make the first past of the word to be _gâr_, a
spear, javelin, the Goth., _gairu_; Ohd., _kér_; O. Sax., _gér_; O.
Nor., _geir_: and the latter, _secg_, a soldier, man. Thus _gârsecg_
would be literally "a spear-man," homo jaculo armatus. Mr. Kemble adds,
it is "a name for _the ocean_, which is probably derived from some
ancient myth, and is now quite unintelligible." Ettmüller gives it,
"_Gârsecg, es_, m. Carex jaculorum, vel vir hastatus, _i.e._
oceanus.--Grymn's _Mythol._, p. xxvii."
Dahlmann, in his _Forschungen der Geschichte_, p. 414., divides the word
thus: _Gars-ecg_, and says, _gar_ is very expressive, and denotes "what
is enclosed," and is allied to the Ger. _garten_, a garden, like the
A.-S. _geard_, a garden, region, earth. _Ecg_, Icl. _egg_; Ger. _egge_,
_ecke_, a border, an outward part; that is, _what borders or encircles
the earth, the ocean_. What authority is there for dividing the word
into _gars-ecg_, and for the meaning he gives to _gar_?
Barrington, in his edition of _Orosius_, p. xxiii., gives "M. H. The
Patton MS." among the transcripts. I cannot find any Hatton MS. of
_Orosius_. Can he refer to the transcript of Junius?