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{{short description|Male practitioner of magic}}
{{short description|Old English word meaning oath-breaker, traitor}}
{{other uses}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Mefistofele warlock.jpg|thumb|Costume design for a warlock for the opera ''[[Mefistofele]]'' ([[Alfredo Leonardo Edel]], 1881)]][[File:Warlocks and Witches in a dance. John Faed RSA. 1855.jpg|thumb|''Warlocks and Witches in a dance'' ([[John Faed]], 1855)]]
[[File:Mefistofele warlock.jpg|thumb|Costume design for a warlock for the opera ''[[Mefistofele]]'' ([[Alfredo Leonardo Edel]], 1881)]][[File:Warlocks and Witches in a dance. John Faed RSA. 1855.jpg|thumb|''Warlocks and Witches in a dance'' ([[John Faed]], 1855)]]

A '''warlock''' is a male practitioner of [[witchcraft]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/warlock|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724004840/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/warlock|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 24, 2012|title=Definition of warlock|website=English Oxford Living Dictionaries |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref>
'''Warlock''' is a term derived from the [[Old English]] ''wærloga'', meaning "oath-breaker, traitor, liar, enemy, devil".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/warlock|title=Definition of warlock|website=Etymonline |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=19 August 2023}}</ref>


==Etymology and terminology==
==Etymology and terminology==
The most commonly accepted etymology derives ''[[wiktionary:warlock|warlock]]'' from the [[Old English]] ''[[wiktionary:wærloga|wǣrloga]]'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver"<ref>{{Cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=2nd |year=1989 |url=http://dictionary.oed.com/ |section=Warlock |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=2006-08-30 |archive-date=2006-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625103623/http://dictionary.oed.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and was given special application to the [[devil]] around 1000.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harper |first1=Douglas |title=warlock |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/warlock |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=11 August 2020}}</ref> In early modern [[Scots language|Scots]], the word came to be used as the male equivalent of [[witch (word)|witch]] (which can be male or female, but has historically been used predominantly for females).<ref>{{Cite book |last=McNeill |first=F. Marian |title=The Silver Bough: A Four Volume Study of the National and Local Festivals of Scotland |location=Glasgow |publisher=William Maclellan |year=1957 |volume=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Chambers |first=Robert |title=Domestic Annals of Scotland |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.47427 |location=Edinburgh |year=1861}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sinclair |first=George |title=Satan's Invisible World Discovered |location=Edinburgh |year=1871}}</ref> The term may have become associated in Scotland with male witches due to the idea that they had made pacts with Auld Hornie (the devil) and thus had betrayed the Christian faith and broke their baptismal vows or oaths.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howard |first1=Michael |title=Scottish Witches and Warlocks |date=2013 |publisher=Three Hands Press |page=91 |edition=1st |language=en |chapter=7 |quote=It is possible that it became associated with wizards and male witches in Scotland in the sense that someone who made a pact with Auld Hornie had betrayed the Christian faith and broken their baptismal vows. In that respect they were considered to be an 'oath breaker', a traitor and an enemy of the Church.}}</ref> From this use, the word passed into [[Romanticism|Romantic]] literature and ultimately 20th-century popular culture. A derivation from the [[Old Norse]] ''varð-lokkur'', "caller of spirits", has also been suggested,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cleasby |first=R. |last2=Vigfusson |first2=G. |title=An Icelandic-English Dictionary |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |date=1874}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Olsen |first=M. |title=Maal Og Minne |publisher=Bymalslaget |location=Oslo |year=1916}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Loewe |first=M. |last2=Blacker |first2=C. |title=Oracles and Divination |page=130 |quote='Vardlokkur' […] is related to the Scots dialect word 'warlock', wizard, and the meaning is thought to relate to the power to shut in or enclose" |location=London |publisher=George Allen & Unwin |year=1981}}</ref> but the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary ]]'' considers this implausible due to the extreme rarity of the Norse word and because forms without hard ''-k'', which are consistent with the Old English etymology ("traitor"), are attested earlier than forms with a ''-k''.<ref>[http://dictionary.oed.com Oxford English Dictionary, (online) 2nd Edition (1989)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625103623/http://dictionary.oed.com/ |date=2006-06-25 }}: "ON. varðlokkur wk. fem. pl. […] incantation, suggested already in Johnson, is too rare (? occurring once), with regard to the late appearance of the -k forms, to be considered."</ref>
The most commonly accepted etymology derives ''[[wiktionary:warlock|warlock]]'' from the [[Old English]] ''[[wiktionary:wærloga|wǣrloga]]'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver"<ref>{{Cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=2nd |year=1989 |url=http://dictionary.oed.com/ |section=Warlock |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=2006-08-30 |archive-date=2006-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625103623/http://dictionary.oed.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and was given special application to the [[devil]] around 1000.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harper |first1=Douglas |title=warlock |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/warlock |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=11 August 2020}}</ref>
In early modern [[Scots language|Scots]], the word came to be used as the male equivalent of [[witch (word)|witch]] (which is gender-neutral, but historically and popularly associated predominantly with females).<ref>{{Cite book |last=McNeill |first=F. Marian |title=The Silver Bough: A Four Volume Study of the National and Local Festivals of Scotland |location=Glasgow |publisher=William Maclellan |year=1957 |volume=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Chambers |first=Robert |title=Domestic Annals of Scotland |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.47427 |location=Edinburgh |year=1861}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sinclair |first=George |title=Satan's Invisible World Discovered |location=Edinburgh |year=1871}}</ref>
The term may have become associated in Scotland with male witches due to the idea that they had made pacts with 'Auld Hornie' (the devil) and thus had betrayed the Christian faith and broke their baptismal vows or oaths.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howard |first1=Michael |title=Scottish Witches and Warlocks |date=2013 |publisher=Three Hands Press |page=91 |edition=1st |language=en |chapter=7 |quote=It is possible that it became associated with wizards and male witches in Scotland in the sense that someone who made a pact with Auld Hornie had betrayed the Christian faith and broken their baptismal vows. In that respect they were considered to be an 'oath breaker', a traitor and an enemy of the Church.}}</ref>
From this use, the word passed into [[Romanticism|Romantic]] literature and ultimately 20th-century popular culture. A derivation from the [[Old Norse]] ''varð-lokkur'', "caller of spirits", has also been suggested,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cleasby |first=R. |last2=Vigfusson |first2=G. |title=An Icelandic-English Dictionary |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |date=1874}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Olsen |first=M. |title=Maal Og Minne |publisher=Bymalslaget |location=Oslo |year=1916}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Loewe |first=M. |last2=Blacker |first2=C. |title=Oracles and Divination |page=130 |quote='Vardlokkur' […] is related to the Scots dialect word 'warlock', wizard, and the meaning is thought to relate to the power to shut in or enclose" |location=London |publisher=George Allen & Unwin |year=1981}}</ref> but the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary ]]'' considers this implausible due to the extreme rarity of the Norse word and because forms without hard ''-k'', which are consistent with the Old English etymology ("traitor"), are attested earlier than forms with a ''-k''.<ref>[http://dictionary.oed.com Oxford English Dictionary, (online) 2nd Edition (1989)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625103623/http://dictionary.oed.com/ |date=2006-06-25 }}: "ON. varðlokkur wk. fem. pl. […] incantation, suggested already in Johnson, is too rare (? occurring once), with regard to the late appearance of the -k forms, to be considered."</ref>


==History==
==History==

Revision as of 03:10, 19 August 2023

For other uses, see Warlock (disambiguation).
Costume design for a warlock for the opera Mefistofele (Alfredo Leonardo Edel, 1881)
Warlocks and Witches in a dance (John Faed, 1855)

Warlock is a term derived from the Old English wærloga, meaning "oath-breaker, traitor, liar, enemy, devil".[1]

Etymology and terminology

The most commonly accepted etymology derives warlock from the Old English wǣrloga, which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver"[2] and was given special application to the devil around 1000.[3]

In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch (which is gender-neutral, but historically and popularly associated predominantly with females).[4][5][6]

The term may have become associated in Scotland with male witches due to the idea that they had made pacts with 'Auld Hornie' (the devil) and thus had betrayed the Christian faith and broke their baptismal vows or oaths.[7]

From this use, the word passed into Romantic literature and ultimately 20th-century popular culture. A derivation from the Old Norse varð-lokkur, "caller of spirits", has also been suggested,[8][9][10] but the Oxford English Dictionary considers this implausible due to the extreme rarity of the Norse word and because forms without hard -k, which are consistent with the Old English etymology ("traitor"), are attested earlier than forms with a -k.[11]

History

Although most victims of the witch trials in early modern Scotland were women, some men were executed as warlocks.[12][13][14]

In his day, the mathematician John Napier was often perceived as a warlock or magician for his interest in divination and the occult, though his established position likely kept him from being prosecuted.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ "Definition of warlock". Etymonline. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Warlock". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989. Archived from the original on 2006-06-25. Retrieved 2006-08-30.
  3. ^ Harper, Douglas. "warlock". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  4. ^ McNeill, F. Marian (1957). The Silver Bough: A Four Volume Study of the National and Local Festivals of Scotland. Vol. 1. Glasgow: William Maclellan.
  5. ^ Chambers, Robert (1861). Domestic Annals of Scotland. Edinburgh.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Sinclair, George (1871). Satan's Invisible World Discovered. Edinburgh.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ Howard, Michael (2013). "7". Scottish Witches and Warlocks (1st ed.). Three Hands Press. p. 91. It is possible that it became associated with wizards and male witches in Scotland in the sense that someone who made a pact with Auld Hornie had betrayed the Christian faith and broken their baptismal vows. In that respect they were considered to be an 'oath breaker', a traitor and an enemy of the Church.
  8. ^ Cleasby, R.; Vigfusson, G. (1874). An Icelandic-English Dictionary. London: Macmillan.
  9. ^ Olsen, M. (1916). Maal Og Minne. Oslo: Bymalslaget.
  10. ^ Loewe, M.; Blacker, C. (1981). Oracles and Divination. London: George Allen & Unwin. p. 130. 'Vardlokkur' […] is related to the Scots dialect word 'warlock', wizard, and the meaning is thought to relate to the power to shut in or enclose"
  11. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, (online) 2nd Edition (1989) Archived 2006-06-25 at the Wayback Machine: "ON. varðlokkur wk. fem. pl. […] incantation, suggested already in Johnson, is too rare (? occurring once), with regard to the late appearance of the -k forms, to be considered."
  12. ^ Thomas Thomson, A History of the Scottish People from the Earliest Times (1896), page 286: "Where one man suffered as a warlock, ten women at least were executed as witches."
  13. ^ Robert Chambers, Domestic Annals of Scotland: From the Reformation to the Revolution (1874), page 244
  14. ^ Journal of Jurisprudence and Scottish Law Magazine (1891), Execution of the Judgment of Death, page 397: "We read (Law's Memor. Pref. lix.) that 'one John Brugh, a notorious warlock (wizard) in the parochin of Fossoquhy, by the space of thirty-six years, was worried at a stake and burned, 1643.'"
  15. ^ Roger A. Mason, Scots and Britons: Scottish Political Thought and the Union of 1603 (2006, ISBN 0521026202), page 199
  16. ^ Julian Havil, John Napier: Life, Logarithms, and Legacy (2014, ISBN 1400852188), page 19
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