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Wight

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Wight, from Old English word wiht, is a Middle English word used to describe a creature or a living being. It is akin to Old High German wiht, meaning a creature or thing.[1]

In its original usage the word wight described a living human being.[2] More recently, the word has been used within the fantasy genre to describe undead or wraith-like creatures: corpses with a part of their decayed soul still in residence. Notable examples of this include the undead Barrow-Wights from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and the wights of Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

Modern German "Wicht" is a cognate, meaning "small person, dwarf", and also "unpleasant person"; in Low German it means "girl". The word is a cognate with Dutch wicht, German Wicht, Old Norse vættir and Swedish vätte. It is not related to the English word "witch". The Wicht, Wichtel or Wichtelchen of Germanic folklore is most commonly translated into English as an imp, a small, shy character who often does helpful domestic chores when nobody is looking (as in the Tale of the Cobbler's Shoes).

In literature and culture

Examples of the word used in classic English literature and poetry:

  • Edmund Spenser (1590-1596), The Faerie Queene, I.i.6.8-9:
    "That every wight to shrowd it did constrain,
    And this fair couple eke to shroud themselues were fain."

See also

References

  1. ^ Merriam-Webster, 1974.
  2. ^ Wight, in the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 1974 edition.