Etymology

Standardly (except Kullnick 1902: 3) derived from ON, cp. OIcel bland 'mixture' (literal or figurative)(thus Knigge 1885: 75, OED (followed by Nagano 1966: 54), MED, Bj., TGD, GDS, McGee 323.), a str. neut. nominal formation on the root of the str. v. *blandan- (see further blande (v.)) is found otherwise only in the (rare poetic) OE bland and gebland ‘mingling, blending’. Moreover, ME bland is known only in the phrase in blande, which corresponds directly to the ON í bland ‘amongst, in (a group); mingled (with), in the company (of), together (with); in a sexual relationship (with somebody)’.   

PGmc Ancestor

*bland-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

bland ‘mixture’ (literal or figurative)
(ONP bland (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Icel bland

OE Cognate

bland, gebland 'blending, mixture, confusion'

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

CC4c

(CC5)

Attestation

MED (and OED) cite the phrase only in Gaw, Cl and WA.  For possible occurrences of ON blanda (fem.) ‘a mixture of fluids’ in place-names in Yks. and Wm., where it may mean ‘muddy’ or ‘milky’, or perh. ‘mixed up and disorderly’, see VEPN s.v. blanda.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 1205; Cl 885; WA 160, 2786, 3723 etc.

The phrase in blande is sometimes hyphenated (thus Morris, M(G), Vant and MED); the form ebland(e) in WA is generally treated as a single word. Madden and Morris both incorrectly parse Gaw 1205 blande as a pp., and hence group it with blande (v). 

Bibliography