German "Zauber", Dutch "tover" ("magic"): Is there a cognate in English?

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

English uses the word “magic”, which comes from the Latin word “magus”. But Dutch and German use tover and Zauber respectively. Those words are obviously descended from the same root, each having followed the sound changes of the early Middle Ages that separated High and Low German. But there seems to be no cognate in English. J.R.R. Tolkien, who went to such pains to use Anglo Saxon words in his writing, often used dwimmer or dwimor to mean sorcery or magic, but that seems to be a completely different word from tover.

Is there a cognate to tover/Zauber in early English?

[Captain_Amazing]

As far as I can tell, “dwimor” meant “illusion” in Anglo-Saxon. I’m still looking for a cognate of tover/Zauber.

[bordelond]

Here’s a start:

The question “Know you how to dye?” is a bit harder to explain. It appears that for a rune spell to work, not only would one have to carve the runes, but they would have to colour them as well. Often this was done with one’s own blood. In Egils Saga, when Egil carves runes into a cup to avoid poisoning, he cuts himself and then colours the runestaves with his own blood. Blood was not the only substance used to colour the runestaves, however, as other substances appear to have been used as well. Evidence of this can be seen in the Old Icelandic word taufR (sic) “sorcery, charms, talismans” and the German word Zauber “sorcery, magic.” Both of these words are cognates to Old English téafor, which meant “red, vermilion, red ochre,” ochre often being used to dye various materials. From all appearances both taufR and Zauber originally possessed similar meanings, but because of the practice of dyeing the runes with ochre and other red substances, the words came to denote “magic, sorcery.”

Another link.

[Captain_Amazing]

Here’s what Grimm says about it:

http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grimmst/03401.php?PHPSESSID=ca64555a4f7e4383eb908ca8bbf4344e

Basically, that Saxon has a different, unique term for magic, “wicce”, from which Englsh gets both “witch” and “wicked”.

[bordelond]

Also …

http://www.tiverton-cheshire.org.uk/PC%20Newsletters/sept2001.htm

Did You Know?
“Tiverton” is derived from the Old English word “Teafor” meaning red pigments, refering to the red soil in the area…(Oxford Dictionary)

http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/seidhr.htm

The colors red and blue were considered to be especially magical, and cloth of these colors was prized for straining medicinal infusions. The Dutch word toverij, the German word Zauber, and the Old English term teafor all mean “magic” and are related to the Norse word taufr, used for an amulet or talisman: all these terms are derived from a Germanic root meaning “red, vermillion” (Storms, 102-103). Red thread was used in medical applications, being used to bind off the umbilicus of the newborn, or to tie packets of herbs to an afflicted body part to encourage magical healing.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

The responses above led me to think that perhaps “dye” was the cognate, but this isn’t borne out by the OED.

[OE. had déa, déah fem., gen. déae (:OTeut. *daugâ-), for which a ME. dehe (= deae, dee) is known in 13th c. This would give later deye, dey, also (as with DIE v. and EYE) dye, die. The word is not known thenceforth till the 16th c., when we find die: see the vb.
(The OTeut. *daugâ- indicates an ablaut series deug-, daug-, dug-, Aryan *dheuk-, etc., to which Kluge (Engl. Stud. XI. 511) refers also L. fcus, and fcre to dye.)]

[bordelond]

There is also a modern-day English cognate - tiver. The word seems to only be used regionally in England, though, and in the rather limited context of sheep herding.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@bordelond

There is also a modern-day English cognate - tiver. The word seems to only be used regionally in England, though, and in the rather limited context of sheep herding.

Come to think of it, the place name you mentioned is also a valid cognate, even though it’s a proper noun.

[bordelond]

A few more uses of the word “tiver”, from sites about runes:

http://www.geocities.com/cheryl_rune/rune_magic_wand.html

10. After carving them, the next step is to redden the runes. Traditionally,
    “Tiver” extracted from the madder plant, is used. As an interesting
    side note, **the word tiver means “magic,” ** and the color red symbolizes
    magic and active energy.

http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/gods3.html#T

Tiver - A magically prepared coloring material used to stain runes. It can be made by grinding natural red ocher or rust. It can also be made from the root of the Madder plant (Rubia tinctura).