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Wight
A wight is a being or thing. This general meaning of the term is shared by its cognates in other Germanic languages, but their usages vary greatly over time and between regions. In Old English, it could refer to anything in existence, with more specificity arising in Middle English, perhaps due to the term of similar meaning in Anglo-Norman, creature. In modern fantasy, wights are often specifically undead.
Modern English "wight" is descended from Middle English: wight or Middle English: wiȝt, from Old English: wiht, from Proto-West Germanic '*wihti' from Proto-Germanic: *wihtiz from Proto-Indo-European: '*wekti' ("cause, sake, thing"), from Proto-Indo-European "*wekʷ-" ("to say, tell"). "Wight" is further cognate with Scots: wicht, German: Wicht, Dutch: Wicht, Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 and Old Norse: vættr, the ancestor of Swedish: vätte, Danish: vætte and Icelandic: vættur. A dialect form in Swedish is vätter, which, similar to the other form, is descended from Old Swedish: vætter.
In Old English, wiht has been variously translated as "wight", "creature" and "being". The term is found in the compound words eall-wihta ("all beings") and á-wiht ("aught", "anything"). Wiht is often used as the subject of riddles, such as riddle 86 from the Exeter Book, in which it has been interpreted as referring to a person selling vegetables, likely garlics. The term is also used to refer to beings such as the dwarf which is the focus of the XCIIIB charm, and the eoten Grendel and the dragon in Beowulf.
The word began to acquire the sense of supernatural or unearthly beings, included in the 8th century Lindisfarne Gospels.
When creature was borrowed from Anglo-Norman around 1300 CE, it was possibly wholly synonymous with Middle English: wight, however over time the words became differentiated by speakers. The exact usage of the term varies between works but it broadly is used in one of five loose categories that blur between themselves:
The term is used to refer to a range of positive beings with supernatural aspects such as saints, Jesus, and his mother, Mary. It has been argued that the term could be used for anything other than God the Father, as he himself was not created in Christian theology. It has been noted, however, that it is stated in the Man of Law that Daniel in the lion's den was saved by "No wight but God", showing it was possible to use the term to refer to a class of beings that includes both man and the Christian god. Though there are no extant texts in Middle English that refer to God the Father directly as a wight.
The most common use of the term, however, is to refer to everyday corporeal beings as these are much more represented in normal conversation. Wight is commonly found with adjectives, such as curside, wikkede, or worldly. The phrase "sweet wight" is notable, occurring frequently and often in gendered and romantic contexts.
As with "wight", Old Norse: vættr (pl. vættir) means a being, especially a supernatural being. It occurs in compound nouns such as mein-vættr ("evil wight"), land-vættr ("guardian spirit of a country"), vitta vettr ("witch wight" or "sorceress") and bjargvættr ("helping sprite").
Hub AI
Wight AI simulator
(@Wight_simulator)
Wight
A wight is a being or thing. This general meaning of the term is shared by its cognates in other Germanic languages, but their usages vary greatly over time and between regions. In Old English, it could refer to anything in existence, with more specificity arising in Middle English, perhaps due to the term of similar meaning in Anglo-Norman, creature. In modern fantasy, wights are often specifically undead.
Modern English "wight" is descended from Middle English: wight or Middle English: wiȝt, from Old English: wiht, from Proto-West Germanic '*wihti' from Proto-Germanic: *wihtiz from Proto-Indo-European: '*wekti' ("cause, sake, thing"), from Proto-Indo-European "*wekʷ-" ("to say, tell"). "Wight" is further cognate with Scots: wicht, German: Wicht, Dutch: Wicht, Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 and Old Norse: vættr, the ancestor of Swedish: vätte, Danish: vætte and Icelandic: vættur. A dialect form in Swedish is vätter, which, similar to the other form, is descended from Old Swedish: vætter.
In Old English, wiht has been variously translated as "wight", "creature" and "being". The term is found in the compound words eall-wihta ("all beings") and á-wiht ("aught", "anything"). Wiht is often used as the subject of riddles, such as riddle 86 from the Exeter Book, in which it has been interpreted as referring to a person selling vegetables, likely garlics. The term is also used to refer to beings such as the dwarf which is the focus of the XCIIIB charm, and the eoten Grendel and the dragon in Beowulf.
The word began to acquire the sense of supernatural or unearthly beings, included in the 8th century Lindisfarne Gospels.
When creature was borrowed from Anglo-Norman around 1300 CE, it was possibly wholly synonymous with Middle English: wight, however over time the words became differentiated by speakers. The exact usage of the term varies between works but it broadly is used in one of five loose categories that blur between themselves:
The term is used to refer to a range of positive beings with supernatural aspects such as saints, Jesus, and his mother, Mary. It has been argued that the term could be used for anything other than God the Father, as he himself was not created in Christian theology. It has been noted, however, that it is stated in the Man of Law that Daniel in the lion's den was saved by "No wight but God", showing it was possible to use the term to refer to a class of beings that includes both man and the Christian god. Though there are no extant texts in Middle English that refer to God the Father directly as a wight.
The most common use of the term, however, is to refer to everyday corporeal beings as these are much more represented in normal conversation. Wight is commonly found with adjectives, such as curside, wikkede, or worldly. The phrase "sweet wight" is notable, occurring frequently and often in gendered and romantic contexts.
As with "wight", Old Norse: vættr (pl. vættir) means a being, especially a supernatural being. It occurs in compound nouns such as mein-vættr ("evil wight"), land-vættr ("guardian spirit of a country"), vitta vettr ("witch wight" or "sorceress") and bjargvættr ("helping sprite").
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