An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Drude

by Friedrich Kluge

Drude, feminine, ‘sorceress,’ Low German; Middle High German trute, feminine. ‘demoness, nightmare’; Drudenfuß, Middle High German trutenvuoȥ. In spite of its wide diffusion (Danish drude, Gothland. druda), the form of the word is obscure, for it is impossible to see to what the Middle High German initial t and Modern High German d are related. Perhaps Middle High German trute is to be connected with the adjective traut; in that case Drude would be a euphemism similar perhaps to Greek Eumenides.