Etymology

Most authorities are content with a native derivation, viz. from (occasionally attested) OE wel lā (so OED, MED, TGD)), but it has also be explained as a confusion of OE wā lā and (late) weg lā, with the latter showing substitution of ON vei (cp. OIcel vei ‘woe’ with OE wā, Go wái, OS, OHG wē)(thus OED and early commentators e.g. Skeat 1892: 462, Kluge 1901: 935). However, d’Ardenne (170–1) argues compellingly in favour of a native (emphatic) origin for OE weg lā (see also Dance 2003: 441–2) and though some of the instances of ME wela cited by OED (int., sense ‘b’) (and in OED3 under sense A.2) could feasibly be construed with overtones of a sense like ‘alas’, it is not necessary to read in such a connotation, which is quite out of keeping with the use of wela in Gaw. See also wailaway.

PGmc Ancestor

*wai

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

vei ‘woe’
(ONP vei (interj.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far vei, Icel vei, Norw vei, Dan ve, Sw ve

OE Cognate

wel lā 'alas'; wā lā 'ah, oh, alas'; (late) weg lā 'euge'

Phonological and morphological markers

[ON /ei/ < PGmc */ai/] (may not be applicable)

Summary category

CCC2c

Attestation

Several instances are recorded in MED and OED from the Gaw MS, but otherwise only in LB and WA.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 518, 2084

Gaw 518 (wela wynne) and 2084 (wela wylle) have sometimes been treated as compounds (thus Morris, M(G), GDS, PS (518n, 2084n), McGillivray).

Bibliography

MED wellā (adv.) , OED wella (int. and adv.) , HTOED , Dance wela, de Vries vei, Mag. vei, Orel *wai, Kroonen *wai, AEW wā, wǣ