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Wight

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This article is about the term in Germanic languages. For the island in England, see Isle of Wight. For other uses, see Wight (disambiguation).

A wight is a being or thing. This general meaning is shared by cognate terms in Germanic languages, however the usage of the term varies greatly over time and between regions. In Old English, it could refer to anything in existence, with more specific usages arising in Middle English, perhaps due to the term of similar meaning in Anglo-Norman, creature. The term is widely used in modern fantasy, often to mean specifically a being which is undead.

Page recording a charm against a dwarf, from the Lacnunga collection, in which the dwarf is referred to as a wiht.[1]

Etymology

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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.[2][3] A dialect form in Swedish is vätter, which, similar to the other form, is descended from Old Swedish: vætter.[4]

Medieval period

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Old English

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The eoten Grendel, who is described in Beowulf as wiht unhaélo ("that damned creature"), as illustrated by J. R. Skelton.[5]

In Old English, wiht has been variously translated as "wight", "creature" and "being".[6] The term is found in the compound words eall-wihta ("all beings") and á-wiht ("aught", "anything").[7][8] 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.[6][9] 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.[1][10]

The word began to acquire the sense of supernatural or unearthly beings, included in the 8th century Lindisfarne Gospels.[11]

Middle English

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Connotations and scope

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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.[12] The exact usage of the term varies between works but it broadly is used in one of five loose categories that blur between themselves:

  • a "living creature", an element of the earthly world
  • a generic being, with few connotations
  • an enemy or social inferior that is seen as other
  • as beloved, often gendered
  • a being connected to the spiritual realm, either good or bad[13]

The term is used to refer to a range of positive beings with supernatural aspects such as saints, Jesus, and his mother, Mary.[14] It has been argued that the term could be used for anything other than the 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.[15]

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.[16]

Examples

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The Reeve's Tale, (1387–1400), line 4236:
"For [Aleyn] had swonken al the longe nyght,
And seyde, 'Fare weel, Malyne, sweete wight!'"
The Monk's Tale, (1387–1400), line 380:
"She kept her maidenhood from every wight
To no man deigned she for to be bond."
The Book of the Duchess, (1387–1400), line 579:
"Worste of alle wightes."
Prologue of The Knight, (1387–1400), line 72–73:
"Ne neuere yet no vileynye he sayde
In al his lyf vnto no manere wight.
He was a verray parfit gentil knyght."
The House of Fame, (1379–1380), line 1830–1831:
"We ben shrewes, every wight,
And han delyt in wikkednes."

Old Norse

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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").[17][18][19]

Modern period

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Modern English

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Modern Fantasy

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Wights feature in J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, especially in The Lord of the Rings, and in George R. R. Martin's novel series A Song of Ice and Fire[citation needed][20] and HBO television series Game of Thrones.[citation needed] Since its 1974 inclusion in the RPG Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), it has become a recurring form of undead in other fantasy games and mods, such as Vampire: The Masquerade.[21] and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.[citation needed]

Examples of usage

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German

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A similar change of meaning can be seen in the German cognate Wicht, meaning a living human being, generally rather small, poor or miserable man (not woman). The word is somewhat old-fashioned in today's language, but it is still used and readily recognized in everyday speech.[citation needed]

The diminutive Wichtel refers to beings in folklore and fantasy, generally small, and often helpful, dwelling in or near human settlements, secretly doing work and helping the humans, somewhat similar to the more specific Heinzelmännchen. Wichtel in this sense is recorded since the Middle Ages. Today, Wichtel is more often used than Wicht.[citation needed]

Dutch

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The word wicht can be used to refer, to any woman, often with negative connotations. It is not used to refer to men.[citation needed]

Booswicht (literally evil-being) matching 'villain', can be used to describe both men and women.[citation needed]

North Germanic languages

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In Danish, the term vætte and the Norwegian cognate vette typically refer to supernatural beings from folklore or a lesser god, especially those that live underground or near the home, such as dwarfs and nisser.[22][23] In Swedish, vätte similarly typically refers to supernatural beings, often those that are small and resembling humans.[24]

See also

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  • Rå, spirits that protect natural features in later Scandinavian folklore

References

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  1. ^ a b Hines 2019, pp. 38–39.
  2. ^ wight.
  3. ^ *wihtiz.
  4. ^ "Vättern". Runeberg.org. Svensk etymologisk ordbok.
  5. ^ Slade, Line 120.
  6. ^ a b BT-wiht.
  7. ^ BT-eall-wihta.
  8. ^ BT-á-wiht.
  9. ^ Wilcox 1996, p. 180.
  10. ^ Slade, Lines 120, 3038.
  11. ^ Reinders, Eric (2024). Reading Tolkien in Chinese: Religion, Fantasy, and Translation. Perspectives on Fantasy series. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 110. ISBN 9781350374645.
  12. ^ Farrell 2015, p. 182.
  13. ^ Farrell 2015, p. 184.
  14. ^ Farrell 2015, p. 186.
  15. ^ Farrell 2015, pp. 180–182, 193.
  16. ^ Farrell 2015, pp. 184–186.
  17. ^ CV-Vættr.
  18. ^ OID-Landvættr.
  19. ^ OID-Bjargvættr.
  20. ^ Martin, pp. 533–536, 545–548.
  21. ^ Sins of the blood. McCoy, Angel., White Wolf Publishing. Clarkston, GA: White Wolf Pub. 2001. pp. 9, 17–24. ISBN 158846217X. OCLC 62150117.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. ^ vætte.
  23. ^ vette.
  24. ^ vätte.

Bibliography

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Primary

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  • Martin. "Chapter 52: Jon". A Game of Thrones.
  • Slade, Benjamin. "Beowulf". heorot.dk. Retrieved 3 December 2023.

Secondary

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Further reading

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