bleikr

Forms

bleikr adj^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale, shining”),^[3][4] an o-grade adjective made to the strong verb *blīkaną (“to shine”), Old Norse blíkja.^[3][4] The cognates are Old English blāc (“shining, pale”), Old Saxon blēk and Old High German bleih (“pale”).^[3][5] Heidermanns gives the Germanic meaning as “shining”.^[5] Wiktionary takes it from pre-Germanic *bʰloyǵ-os, of Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's first dated record is ÓHLeg, the legendary Óláfs saga helga, of 1237, of hair: Har hans var aðrummægin ræikar blæict en aðrumægin rautt “his hair was fair on one side of the parting and red on the other”.^[7] Menota dates its manuscript, DG 8 II, to 1225–1250.^[8] In a law text of 1250 bleíct silfr is pale, unalloyed silver.^[7][9]

Semantic evolution

ONP's senses run from pale or wan, through blond and light-coloured, to the colour of cows and horses and, rarely, light red.^[7] Poetry uses it of pale faces in fear, wounds or death, of fair hair, white-painted ships and white shields.^[10][11] The comparison bleikr sem bast “pale as bast” is a set phrase.^[1][12]

It survives as Icelandic bleikur “pale, pale red, light yellow”,^[13] Swedish blek and Danish bleg.^[14][15] English bleak is a loan from Norse, first bleik “pale”, with the sense “bare, windswept” from the 1530s.^[16][17][15]

Timeline

• 1225–1250 – blæict “fair” of hair in ÓHLeg, in DG 8 II.^[8][7]
• 1250 – bleíct silfr “pale silver” in the Konungsbók of Grágás.^[7]
• 1270 – blæikr “pale” in Strengleikar.^[7][18]
• 1303 – bleik in a Norwegian charter.^[19]
• c. 1300 – Middle English bleik “pale”, from the Norse word.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. pale, wan, faded.^[7][1]
2. blond, fair, light-coloured.^[7][1]
3. of cows and horses, light-coloured, perhaps fawn or pale yellow.^[7][20]
4. perhaps light red.^[7]

Word family

• bleikja
• bleikna
• bleikhárr
• rauðbleikr
• fífilbleikr
• ljósbleikr

Descendants

• Icelandic bleikur^[6]
• Faroese bleikur^[6]
• Norwegian Nynorsk bleik^[6]
• Norwegian Bokmål bleik^[6]
• Swedish blek^[6]
• Danish bleg^[6]
• Middle English bleik (→ English bleak)^[6][17][16]

Related words

• blíkja
• blik

Usage notes

As a noun, Bleikr is the name of a light-coloured horse.^[7][21]

References

1. ^ a b c d Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. bleikr
2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. bleikr
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 66
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 47
5. ^ a b Heidermanns, Frank (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. 127
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. bleikr
8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DG 8 II
9. ^ Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. bleikr
10. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 52
11. ^ Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1860), Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, Hafniæ: Societas regia antiquariorum septentrionalium, p. 62
12. ^ Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 33
13. ^ Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. bleikur
14. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. blek
15. ^ a b Falk, Hjalmar; Torp, Alf (1910–1911), Norwegisch-dänisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg, p. s.v. bleg
16. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
17. ^ 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), p. s.v. bleik
18. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DG 4–7
19. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DN 2:68 A
20. ^ Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 57
21. ^ Sigfús Blöndal (1920–1924), Islandsk-dansk ordbog, Reykjavík, p. 86