wundor

Forms

wundor n (genitive singular wundres)^[1] wundur in the Vespasian Psalter gloss and the Pastoral Care; the plural is wundru, wundra or wundor.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wundrą (“wonder, miracle”).^[1][4] The noun is found in Old Norse undr, Old Frisian wunder, Old Saxon wundar, Old Dutch wunder and Old High German wuntar.^[5][6][7]

Its origin is unclear.^[8] Orel derives it from Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to wish, to love”) with a suffix.^[5] Köbler gives the same root, and Wiktionary a form *wn̥h₁-tro-m.^[7][1] De Vries finds the explanation difficult: he reports a link with the root of Old Norse und (“wound”), an event that strikes suddenly, and finds one with una (“to be content”) still less convincing.^[8]

The ⟨o⟩ of the second syllable was inserted before the syllabic /r/ of the uninflected form: later texts have ⟨wundor⟩ and ⟨wunder⟩ but no ⟨wundr⟩.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century: ic secgo all wundur ðin “I shall tell all your wonders”, Latin “narrabo omnia mirabilia tua”.^[11][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names a thing or act that causes astonishment, often in phrases such as nis þæt nan wundor “that is no wonder”, and in religious prose a miracle.^[12][13] Clark Hall adds portent and horror, and a wondrous thing or monster; in Beowulf the genitive plural wundra names strange beings, monsters.^[14][15] Holthausen and Köbler also give the feeling, wonder or amazement.^[6][7] The dative plural wundrum became an adverb, “wonderfully, terribly”.^[16][15] In glosses it renders Latin “miraculum”, “mirabilis”, “prodigium” and “signum”.^[7][17] Clark Hall notes that it is often confused with wuldor (“glory”).^[14]

It lived on as Middle English wunder, now English wonder.^[1]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – all wundur ðin “all your wonders” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[11][3]
• 890×897 – on burgum he worhte his wundru “in the towns he worked his miracles”, of Christ, in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[18][3]
• s. x/xi – Ða wæs wundor micel “then it was a great wonder” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[19][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. a wonder, something that causes astonishment; a marvel.^[12][14]
2. a miracle.^[13][16]
3. a portent; a horror.^[14]
4. a wondrous thing; a monster.^[14][15]
5. wonder, amazement.^[6][7]

Word family

• wundrian
• wundorlīċ
• wundrung
• wundorweorc
• wundorcræft
• hondwundor
• searowundor
• nīðwundor

Descendants

• Middle English wunder (→ English wonder; Scots wunner)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 3.67
3. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 474
6. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 410
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wundor
8. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 634
9. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 6.40
10. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 2.12
11. ^ 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. 329
12. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1281
13. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 751
14. ^ a b c d e Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 425
15. ^ a b c 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. wundor
16. ^ a b Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 236
17. ^ Cook, Albert S. (1894), A Glossary of the Old Northumbrian Gospels, Halle: Niemeyer, p. s.v. wundor
18. ^ 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
19. ^ 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