sveigja

Forms

sveigja (past participle sveigðr) (weak class 1 (long stem))^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *swaigijaną.^[1] Torp explains it as the causative of a strong verb meaning “to bend, give way” that survives in Swedish dialects as sviga, with the passive svigna (“to bend, yield”) beside it in Old Norse.^[2] De Vries lists the same dialect verb and the weak verb Old Swedish swigha (“to bend”).^[3] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon allows two explanations: a causative made to the strong verb Proto-Germanic *swīganą, seen in the participle sviginn (“bent”) and in svigna, or a verb made from the adjective sveigr (“pliant”).^[4]

Köbler traces the strong verb to Proto-Indo-European *sweyg- (“to bend, turn, swing”).^[5] Following Wood, de Vries compares Lithuanian svaiginėti (“to reel about”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first dated in Menota's text of Njáls saga in the manuscript AM 132 fol of 1320–1350, in the infinitive sveigja.^[6] Cleasby and Vigfússon cite that saga for sveigja á “to pull round” in rowing.^[7] IcePaHC's first record is of 1325.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is to bend something pliant so that it gives or moves: a bow, a branch, oars pulled hard.^[7][9] In the Eddic poems it describes setting a thing in motion by bending it: sveigði rokk in Rígsþula, of a woman turning her distaff, and hǫrpu sveigja in Oddrúnargrátr, of Gunnarr striking the harp.^[10][11] From bending came the figurative uses: to wrest the law or justice, and, with til, to give way to someone or come to terms.^[12][13] The mediopassive sveigjask is said of a mind or will that is swayed.^[12][9]

The verb lives on as Icelandic sveigja, Faroese sveiggja (“to swing”) and Norwegian sveigja.^[4] De Vries, after Björkman, derives Middle English sweyen and English sway from it.^[3][2] Etymonline calls the English verb probably Scandinavian, perhaps merged with an unrecorded Old English cognate.^[14]

Timeline

• 1320–1350 – sveigja in Njáls saga in AM 132 fol.^[6]
• 1325 – the first record in IcePaHC.^[8]
• 1330–1370 – the participle sveigt in Bandamanna saga and sveigir in Hallfreðar saga, both in AM 132 fol.^[6]
• 1330–1370 – sveigði in the manuscript WolfAug 9 10 4to.^[15]
• early 14th century – Middle English sweien “to move, go”, which Etymonline traces probably to a Scandinavian source.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. to bend or bow something pliant: a bow (drawing it), a branch, oars.^[12][7]
2. to set in motion by bending: to strike a harp, to turn a distaff.^[10][7]
3. to let (the tail) droop.^[12][10]
4. (figurative) to wrest or bend the law or justice.^[12][13]
5. sveigja til við e-n: to give way to someone, yield somewhat, come to terms.^[12][13]
6. (mediopassive) sveigjask: to be swayed, give way.^[12][13]

Descendants

• Icelandic sveigja^[1]
• Faroese sveiggja^[4]
• Norwegian Nynorsk sveia^[1]
• Middle English sweyen^[3]
• English sway^[14]

Related words

• sveigr
• svigi
• sviginn
• svigna

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 554
3. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 566
4. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. sveigja
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ a b c Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 132 fol
7. ^ a b c d Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 608
8. ^ a b Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
9. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. sveigja
10. ^ a b c Gering, Hugo (1903), Vollständiges Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda, Halle: Waisenhaus, p. col. 1007
11. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 550
12. ^ a b c d e f g Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. sveigja
13. ^ a b c d Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 624
14. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. WolfAug 9 10 4to