norþ

Forms

norþ (comparative norþerra or norþra, superlative norþmest)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *norþr,^[1] from Proto-Germanic *nurþrą (“north, northern”).^[1] Orel reconstructs the Germanic word as *nurþaz and Köbler as *nurþa- or *nurþra-.^[2][3] Its cognates are Old Norse norðr, Old Frisian north, Old Saxon north and Old High German nord.^[2][4][1]

Orel and Holthausen relate it to Ancient Greek νέρτερος (nérteros, “lower, underground”), to Ancient Greek νέρθε (nérthe, “from beneath”) and to Umbrian nertru (“on the left”).^[2][4] Köbler takes it to the root Proto-Indo-European *ner- (“below”).^[3] Wiktionary gives two explanations of the meaning: the region where the sun is below the earth, or the left-hand side of someone facing east.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in the bounds of a charter of King Coenwulf of Mercia dated 811, in a manuscript held to be the original: Andlang stræte norð on denewarafeld “along the road north to Denewarafeld”.^[5][6] In literary prose it is in Alfred's verse preface to the Pastoral Care, of 890×897, where the king sends the book suð and norð “south and north”.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

The word is above all an adverb, “northward” or “in the north”: the Danes went norþ ymbūtan “north around” in the Chronicle for 894, and in the Orosius the land grows narrower the further north it runs.^[8][9] Toller notes that it occurs constantly in the boundaries of the charters.^[9] As an adjective it is found mostly in the comparative norþerra and the superlative norþmest, as in ða norþran burg “the northern fortress” in the Chronicle for 913.^[8] In the laws norð inne means “up in the north”, in Northumbria.^[10]

The word lived on as Middle English north, now English north.^[1]

Timeline

• 811 – norð on denewarafeld in the bounds of a charter of Coenwulf, surviving in its original.^[5][6]
• 890×897 – suð and norð in the verse preface to the Pastoral Care.^[7][6]
• s. ix/x – the adverb in the Parker Chronicle.^[11][6]
• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – the superlative norþmest in the Old English Orosius.^[12][8]
• s. x/xi – sūð ne norð in the Beowulf manuscript.^[13][14]

Meanings

Adverb

1. northward, to the north.^[8][14]
2. in the north.^[9]

Adjective

1. northern, lying to the north; mostly in the comparative and superlative.^[8][3]

Word family

• norþan
• norþerne
• norþweard
• norþdǣl
• norþhealf
• norþēast
• norþwest
• Norþmann

Descendants

• Middle English north (→ English north; Scots north)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 289
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. norþ
4. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 238
5. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 168
6. ^ a b c d e 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 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
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. 725
9. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 654
10. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 157
11. ^ 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. 83
12. ^ 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. 249
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b 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. norð