This article is about the term in Germanic languages. For the island in England, seeIsle of Wight. For other uses, seeWight (disambiguation).
Page recording a charmagainst a dwarf, from the Lacnunga collection, in which the dwarf is referred to as awiht.[1]
Awight is a being or thing. This general meaning of the term is shared by its cognates in otherGermanic languages, but their usages vary greatly over time and between regions. InOld English, it could refer to anything in existence, with more specificity arising inMiddle English, perhaps due to the term of similar meaning inAnglo-Norman,creature. Inmodern fantasy, wights are often specificallyundead.
In Old English,wiht has been variously translated as "wight", "creature" and "being".[6] The term is found in the compound wordseall-wihta ("all beings") andá-wiht ("aught", "anything").[7][8]Wiht is often used as the subject ofriddles, such as riddle 86 from theExeter Book, in which it has been interpreted as referring to a person sellingvegetables, likelygarlics.[6][9] The term is also used to refer to beings such as the dwarf which is the focus of theXCIIIB charm, and theeotenGrendel and thedragon inBeowulf.[1][10]
Whencreature was borrowed fromAnglo-Norman around 1300 CE, it was possibly wholly synonymous withMiddle 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 assaints,Jesus, and his mother,Mary.[14] It has been argued that the term could be used for anything other thanGod the Father, as he himself was not created inChristian theology. It has been noted, however, that it is stated in theMan of Law thatDaniel 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 awight.[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 ascurside,wikkede, orworldly. The phrase "sweet wight" is notable, occurring frequently and often in gendered and romantic contexts.[16]
"In this by-place of nature there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity."
A similar change of meaning can be seen in theGerman cognateWicht, 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 diminutiveWichtel 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 specificHeinzelmännchen. Wichtel in this sense is recorded since theMiddle Ages. Today,Wichtel is more often used thanWicht.[citation needed]
In Danish, the termvætte and the Norwegian cognatevette typically refer to supernatural beings from folklore or a lesser god, especially those that live underground or near the home, such asdwarfs andnisser.[22][23] In Swedish,vätte similarly typically refers to supernatural beings, often those that are small and resembling humans.[24]
^Reinders, Eric (2024).Reading Tolkien in Chinese: Religion, Fantasy, and Translation. Perspectives on Fantasy series. London, UK:Bloomsbury Academic. p. 110.ISBN9781350374645.
Sins of the blood. McCoy, Angel., White Wolf Publishing. Clarkston, GA: White Wolf Pub. 2001. pp. 9,17–24.ISBN158846217X.OCLC62150117.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
Tichy, Martin Rocek, Ondrej."wiht".Bosworth-Toller's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online. Retrieved2 December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Tichy, Martin Rocek, Ondrej."eall-wihta".Bosworth-Toller's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online. Retrieved2 December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Tichy, Martin Rocek, Ondrej."wiht".Bosworth-Toller's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online. Retrieved2 December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
"vätte | SAOB".SAOB (in Swedish). Retrieved26 June 2024.
"vætte". Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab. RetrievedJune 1, 2019.
"vette". Store norske leksikon. RetrievedJune 1, 2019.
Kvideland, Reimund; Sehmsdorf, Hemming K. (2010).Scandinavian folk belief and legend (10. print ed.). Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press.ISBN978-0816619672.
Reidar Th. Christiansen (1964)Folktales of Norway (University of Chicago Press)ISBN978-0226105109
