the shape of _ur_ or _gwr_--hen_ur_ (an eld_er_),
her_wr_ (a prow_ler_); in Russian the ger, gwr, ur, er, appears
in the shape of _ik_ or _k_--sapojgn_ik_, a shoema_ker_,
Chinobu_ik_, a man possessed of rank. The root of all these, as
well as of _or_ in senator, victor, etc., is the Sanscrit _ker_
or _kir_, which means lord, master, maker, doer, possessor of
something or connected with something.

We want now to come at the meaning of Beling or Billing, which
probably means some action, or some moral or personal
attribute; Bolvile in Anglo-Saxon means honest, Danish Bollig;
Wallen, in German, to wanken or move restlessly about; Baylan,
in Spanish, to dance (Ball? Ballet?), connected with which are
to whirl, to fling, and possibly Belinger therefore may mean a
Billiger or honest fellow, or it may mean a Walter_ger_, a
whirl_enger_, a flinger, or something connected with restless
motion.

Allow me to draw your attention to the word 'Will' in the
English word will-o-the-wisp; it must not be supposed that this
Will is the abbreviation of William; it is pure Danish,
'Vild'--pronounced will,--and signifies wild; Vilden Visk, the
wild or moving wisp. I can adduce another instance of the
corruption of the Danish vild into will: the rustics of this
part of England are in the habit of saying 'they are led will'
(vild or wild) when from intoxication or some other cause they
are bewildered at night and cannot find their way home. This
expression is clearly from the old Norse or Danish. I am not at
all certain that 'Bil' in Bilinger may not be this same will or
vild, and that the word may not be a corruption of vilden, old
or elder, wild or flying fire. It has likewise occurred to me
that Bilinger may be derived from 'Volundr,' the worship of the
blacksmith or Northern Vulcan. Your obedient servant,

GEORGE BORROW.

FOOTNOTES:

[144] There were 750 copies of the first edition of _The Zincali_ in two
vols. in 1841. 750 of the second edition in 1843, and a third issue of
750 in the same year. A fourth edition of 7,500 copies appeared in the
cheap Home and Colonial Library in 1846, and there was a fifth edition
of 1000 copies in 1870. These were all the editions published in England
during Borrow's lifetime. Dr. Knapp traced three American editions
during the same