Wight Totally Explained

Everything about Wight totally explained

Wight is a Middle English word for a creature or a living being, especially a human being. In modern English today, it's also used in fiction for human-like creatures. Wight derives from the same root as forms of to be, such as was and were. Modern German "Wicht" is a cognate, meaning "small person, dwarf", and also "unpleasant person"; in Low German it means "girl". It isn't 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).

Etymology

comes from Old English word wiht, akin to Old High German wiht, meaning a creature or thing. The word is a cognate with Dutch wicht, German Wicht, Old Norse vættir and Swedish vätte.

Usage

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

Geoffrey Chaucer (1368-1372),, line 579:
:"Worste of alle wightes."

Geoffrey Chaucer (1368-1372),, line 72-73:

:"In all his life, to whatsoever wight.

: He was a truly perfect, gentle knight."

Geoffrey Chaucer (circa 1379-1380),, line 1830-1831:

:"We ben shrewes, every wight,

: And han delyt in wikkednes."

William Shakespeare (circa 1602),, Act I, Sc. III:

:"O base Hungarian wight! wilt thou the spigot wield?"

John Milton (1626),, verse vi

:"Oh say me true if thou wert mortal wight..." Wight has been used comparatively recently to give an impression of archaism and mystery in literature, for example in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, where wights are corpses with a part of their decayed soul. Probably inspired by Scandinavian folklore (of vættir), Tolkien also used the word to denote human-like creatures, such as elves or ghosts ("wraiths") - most notably the undead Barrow-Wights. Some subsequent writers seem to have been unaware that the word didn't actually mean ghost or wraith, and so many works of fantasy fiction, role-playing games and computer and video games use the term as the name of spectral creatures very similar to Tolkien's Barrow-wights, such as Dungeons & Dragons' wights.
Recently used in "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R. R. Martin, book IV "A Feast for Crows" (2005),

:"Who has been beyond the wall of death to see? Only the wights, and we know what they're like. We know."

Compare

vættir, vätte

Genie

WraithFurther Information

Get more info on 'Wight'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://wight.totallyexplained.com">Wight Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.