Etymology

Always derived from ON, cp. OIcel rífa ‘to tear, rend’, cognate with OFris (ūt)rīva ‘to tear up/out’, and further with Grk ereípō ‘to throw, dash down’ etc. (PIE *rei-p-).  

PGmc Ancestor

*rīfan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

rífa ‘to tear, rend’
(ONP rífa (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far ríva, Icel rífa, Norw riva, Dan rive, Sw riva

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

B2a

Attestation

Common and widespread in later ME (though first attested in LB); attested in various modern dial, esp. Sc. and N.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 1341, 2346; Erk 262; WA 638, 1216

Some editors have read a further instance at Gaw 2290, viz. ryuez (Madden, Morris, TG (see n.), Jones and Sisam (his l. 222)); but most since M(G) have preferred rynez ‘touches’ (< OE hrīnan), inc. TGD and GDS (both with notes), and see further Knott 1915: 106. Similarly, Gollancz (followed by Turville-Petre and Burrows (1992)) reads ryne at Erk 262 (see further Peterson 262n). MED also identifies <reft> at WA 409, though TPD's reading of it as a form of MED's rēven (v.) is more likely.

Bibliography

MED rīven (v.2) , OED3 rive (v.1) , HTOED , EDD rive (v. and sb.3), Dance ryue (v.), de Vries rífa, Mag. rífa, Bj-L. rive (1), Seebold reif-a-, Orel *rīfanan, Kroonen *rīfan- ~ *rīpan-