Etymology

The form of the v. is straightforwardly < OE lecgan ‘to lay, put, place (etc.)’; cp. Go lagjan, OIcel leggja, OFris ledza, OS leggian, OHG leggen, and only Olszewska (1933: 82) argues explicitly for ON input via the influence of an ON idiom represented by OIcel leggja orð as cited and translated by Emerson (1922: 390) as ‘lay a word, remonstrate’.

PGmc Ancestor

*lagjan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

leggja 'to lay, place, put (etc.)'
(ONP leggja (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far leggja, Icel leggja, Norw leggja, Dan lægge, Sw lägga

OE Cognate

lecgan ‘to lay, put, place (etc.)’

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

CCC4c

Attestation

Neither OED nor MED cites the phrase ‘lay words’, and Olszewska (1933: 82) refers only to the occurrence at Gaw 1480.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 1480

Madden prints sayde at Gaw 1480, and Morris suggests ‘(sayde?)’ as an alternative, but no other editors have doubted MS layde, which is required for the alliteration (see further Emerson 1922: 390).

Bibliography

MED leien (v.1) , OED lay (v.1) , HTOED , Dance layde, de Vries leggja, Mag. leggja, Bj-L. legge, Seebold leg-ja-, Orel *laʒjanan, Kroonen *lagjan-, AEW lecgan