Dear Maurice,

Wod=wood; naggen=to irritate, to provoke, to 'nag' (see the description of the 'woodcabin' in question). But 'wod'>Wodan.

See also this useful link (nag might be 'to abide' in Hebrew, but I think the person in the link is confusing it with the Arabic nakh - which was introduced in the English language by Richard F. Burton and which means 'to (make) (a camel) kneel down'*).

http://importantwork.com/text/palefire/commentary1.html

Best,

Hafid

*This is done by hitting it on the shins.  






2013/11/13 NABOKV-L, English <nabokv-l@holycross.edu>

Dear List,

Neither Zimmer nor Boyd offered an annotation for the word "wodnaggen"
in Pale Fire (note to lines 47-48). Has anybody come up with an explanation
that I have missed.

Thank you for your help.

Maurice Couturier

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Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
Co-Editor, NABOKV-L
 
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All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.