Blood, blessing and sacrifice in Germanic and beyond

Here, Hamp’s (1980) etymology of Gmc. *blōđ- ‘blood’ from a participial adjective *bhlō-tó-m ‘gushed, spurted’ from a State II *bhleh₃ - that was left behind after the deletion of its head noun is accepted and reiterated. It is then shown that Gmc. *blōđ- ‘blood’ and blōtan ‘to worship, reverence, honor, (blood) sacrifice’ are not related and that the latter ultimately derives from an IE *-bhleh₃ -d- reflected in Gk. έφλαδον. Along the way, etymologies for most IE terms for ‘blood’ are critiqued. Various procedures for blood sacrifices in a variety of cultures are then examined, and finally the light these rites may shed on the contents of early Germanic sacrifices is considered.