gestr

Forms

gestr m (genitive gests, plural gestir) (strong i-stem)^[1] Proto-Norse -gastiz as the second element of names: wagagastiz at Nydam, dated 210/220–375 by Imer;^[2] hlewagastiz on the Gallehus horn;^[3] saligastiz on the Berga stone.^[4] The Stentoften stone has the dative plural niuhagestumz, read by Rundata as “(to the) guests”.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Norse ᚷᚨᛊᛏᛁᛉ (gastiʀ), known from names on Proto-Norse inscriptions,^[1][6] from Proto-Germanic *gastiz (“guest”).^[7][8] The other Germanic languages have Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (gasts), Old English ġiest, Old Frisian jest, Old Saxon gast and Old High German gast.^[7][9]

The Germanic noun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“stranger, guest”), which also gave Latin hostis (“stranger, enemy”) and Proto-Slavic *gostь (“guest”).^[7][8][1] Kroonen notes that the word is found only in the west of the Indo-European area and may have been formed as the opposite of a word for “associate”.^[7] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon leaves open any link with Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos, “stranger, guest-friend”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before Old Norse proper the word appears in Proto-Norse personal names, such as hlewagastiz on the Gallehus horn, dated 375/400–460/470 by Imer.^[3] The noun itself is first dated in the manuscript AM 619 4to, of 1200–1225, as geste;^[11] the first dated passage is in AM 645 4to, which ONP dates 1220: En sa er þar bio. áᴛi vón til sín margra gesta oc vaɴda manna “And the man who lived there was expecting many guests and kinsmen”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Cleasby and Vigfússon took the first meaning to be “stranger”, as with Latin hostis,^[13] and Old Norse kept the sense of an uninvited caller or visiting foreigner beside that of a guest; in the Norwegian laws it is also a foreign merchant.^[14][15][12] In Norway gestir were also a class of royal retainers below the hirðmenn, with half their pay, used as messengers, spies and police;^[12][16] a text dated 1275 explains the name: oc heita þeir gestir oc fa þeir þat nafn af fiolskylldri syslo þviat þeir gista margra manna hibyli “and they are called guests, and get that name from their many duties, because they lodge in many men's houses”.^[12] That sense has the most citations in ONP.^[12]

The word continues as Icelandic gestur, Norwegian Nynorsk gjest, Swedish gäst and Danish gæst.^[6] Middle English gest is from the Norse word, which is why English guest has a hard ⟨g⟩ where Old English had giest with a palatal one.^[17][18]

Timeline

• 210/220–375 – Proto-Norse wagagastiz, a name, at Nydam, by Imer's dating.^[2]
• 375/400–460/470 – hlewagastiz on the Gallehus horn.^[3]
• 520/530–700 – dative plural niuhagestumz on the Stentoften stone.^[5]
• 1200–1225 – geste in AM 619 4to.^[11]
• 1220 – margra gesta “many guests” in AM 645 4to.^[12]
• 1275 – first dated records of the royal retainers called gestir.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. a guest, visitor, stranger.^[12][19]
2. a foreign merchant visiting the country.^[12][15]
3. (Norway) a royal retainer of lower rank than the hirðmenn, used as a messenger, spy or policeman.^[12][19]

Word family

• gestabekkr
• gestahǫfðingi
• gestaskáli
• gestasveit
• nætrgestr
• vetrgestr
• aufúsugestr

Descendants

• Icelandic gestur^[1]
• Faroese gestur^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk gjest^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål gjest^[1]
• Swedish gäst^[1]
• Danish gæst^[1]
• Middle English gest^[17]
• English guest^[18]

Related words

• gista

Usage notes

Gestr is also a man's name and a name of Óðinn, and it ends names such as Þorgestr and Végestr.^[10][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. DR MS1995;341
3. ^ a b c Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. DR 12
4. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. Sö 24
5. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. DR 357
6. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 165
7. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 170
8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 127
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ a b Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. gestur
11. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. gestr
13. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 197
14. ^ Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 194
15. ^ a b Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 236
16. ^ Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 119
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. gest
18. ^ a b Dance, Richard; Pons-Sanz, Sara; Schorn, Brittany, eds., The Gersum Project: The Scandinavian Influence on English Vocabulary, gersum.org, p. s.v. gest
19. ^ a b Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. gestr