Mycenaean wo-ra-we-sa

The Mycenaean adjective wo-ra-we-sa refers to a chariot, but its meaning is not readily inferable form the context and its etymology is still disputed. The present paper examines the different hypotheses brought forward to explain wo-ra, of which wo-ra-we-sa is a derivative in *-u̯ent-, and it offers a new solution for its etymology. It argues that wo-ra is a feminine ā -stem action noun meaning “the twisted, braided, or plaited thing” which goes back either to *u̯ol(h )-eh - or to *u̯ṓ l(h1)-eh -, from the root *u̯el(h )- ‘to turn, wallow, roll’. Formally and semantically wo-ra may be shown to share the same root as alphabetic Greek εὐλή ‘maggot, caterpillar’ and Homeric εὔληρα ‘reins’ (Il. 23.481), being either a feminine action noun in the o-grade (/wolā /) built directly to the verbal root *u̯el(h )- or a lengthened ō -grade (/wō lā /). Crucially, the ideogram *253 which follows [wo-]ra and wo-ra-e looks like a bosal, a type of noseband which is part of a bridle without bit. That being so, wo-ra-we-sa /wō̆lā wessa/ would mean ‘provided or fitted with a (braided or laced) bridle’.