Father Anselm kindly invited me to elaborate on the medieval etymology of
"aurum":
The standard explanation is the one given by Isidore, according to whom
"aurum" is derived from "aura" because gold shines brighter when reflected
by the air: "Aurum ab aura aura dictum, id est ab splendore, eo quod
repercusso aere plus fulgeat. Vnde et Vergilius (Aen. 6, 204): _Discolor
inde auri per ramos aura refulsit_, hoc est splendor auri" (Etym. XVI,
xviii, 1). Similar explanations were current for the names of "aes" (ore,
metal, brass) and of "argentum": "Aes ab splendore aeris vocatum, sicut
aurum et argentum" (XVI, xx, 1). Sedulius Scottus, author of important
grammatical commentaries on Donatus, Priscianus and Eutyches, was familiar
with the etymology in question and adduces it in explicit form somewhere in
grammatical or exegetic writings (I don't have the reference at hand). I
could imagine that the same etymology is also still alive in Petrarch's
word-plays with "lauro", "l'auro" and "l'aura", circumscribing the name of
his beloved "Laura". But I have not yet found a precedent for Sedulius'
more elaborate association of the four elements with four colours where
aurum/gold represents 'air': Isidore, for instance, reporting a pagan
interpretation of the colours of horses (horses seem to have been quite
colourful in ancient times!), assigns red to fire (and summer), white to
air (and winter), green to earth (and spring), blue to water (and autumn),
cf. Etym. XVIII, xli, 1).
Otfried
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