folgian

Forms

folgian (weak class 2; third-person singular present folgaþ, past singular folgode, past plural folgodon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *folgēn, from Proto-Germanic *fulgāną (“to follow”).^[1] Orel reconstructs it as *fulʒēnan and lists Old Norse fylgja, Old Frisian folgia, Old Saxon folgon and Old High German folgēn beside it.^[2] Holthausen and Köbler give the same cognates.^[3][4]

The verb has no certain etymology outside Germanic.^[1] Wiktionary calls it uncertain and mentions a possible derivation from Proto-Indo-European *pelḱ- (“to turn, twist”).^[1] Orel compares Proto-Slavic *pьlzěti (“to crawl”).^[2]

It is a weak verb of the second class, with the third person singular folgaþ and the past folgode.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the Pastoral Care of Hatton 20, written 890×897, of those who think themselves wiser than others: ðonne forhyggeað hie ðæt hie folgien oðrum monnum æfter bettran andgiete “then they scorn to follow other men towards a better understanding”.^[5][6] Here the verb already has the sense of following a guide or teacher.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller give two main senses: to go behind, pursue; and to follow as a servant, attendant or disciple, Latin sequi and servire.^[8] The Supplement adds following with the aim of overtaking, accompanying, following a teacher or model, and a technical sense, to live as a dependent in another's household.^[7] In the laws it is used of a man who serves a lord as his vassal and of a child that goes with its mother.^[9] The Chronicle's annal for 755 has the men who would never follow their lord's slayer, hí næfre his banan folgian noldon.^[8] Sweet adds the sense to obey or observe a law.^[10] Wulfstan favoured the phrase lagum fylgan / folgian “to follow the laws”, which may have helped its use in Middle English.^[11]

The verb lived on as Middle English folwen, now English follow.^[12][13]

Timeline

• 890×897 – folgien “follow” other men towards a better understanding, in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[5][6]
• s. x med. – power wile folgian eów “will follow you” if you are wise and good, in the Old English Boethius.^[14][7]
• s. x/xi – He folgode feorhgeníþlan “he pursued his deadly foes” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[15][8]
• s. xi in. – forms of the verb in Ælfric's Lives of Saints (Cotton Julius E. vii).^[16][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. to follow, go behind; to pursue.^[8][17]
2. to accompany, attend.^[7][18]
3. to follow as a servant or disciple; to serve (a lord).^[8][9]
4. to obey, observe (a law).^[10][18]
5. to live as a dependent in another's household.^[7]

Word family

• ġefolgian
• folgere
• folgoþ

Descendants

• Middle English folwen (→ English follow; Middle Scots folȝe; Middle Scots folow)^[1]

Related words

• fylgan

Usage notes

Beside folgian Old English had fylgan, fylġ(e)an of the same meaning, and both lie behind Middle English folwen.^[18][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 117
3. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 111
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. folgian
5. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
6. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
7. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 230
8. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 300
9. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 73
10. ^ a b Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 83
11. ^ Pons-Sanz, Sara M. (2007), Norse-Derived Vocabulary in Late Old English Texts: Wulfstan's Works, a Case Study, NOWELE Supplement 22, Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, p. 250
12. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 296
15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 282
17. ^ Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. folgian
18. ^ a b c Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 124