Etymology

Early commentators regard the ON wk.1 v. represented by OIcel ryðja ‘to clear, make room’ (cp. wk. 2 formations on the same root: OFris tōrothia, MLG rōden, rāden, MDu roden ‘to remove (trees, weeds, undergrowth etc.) from a piece of land’) as the source of ME ridden, PDE rid, presumably via the past stem in /dd/ (so Skeat 1902: 249 (cited by de Vries), Kullnick 16, Oakden II.190, OED2, GDS) and this claim is occasionally still repeated. But descent from a native reflex of PGmc *ruð- is usually now preferred and there are several plausible instances of such a form in OE texts: notice esp. early <arydid> (glossing expilatam ‘pillaged, plundered’) at CorpGl 2 5.548, next to <geryd> ‘cleared’ at Solil 1 39.14; and possibly  <hryding> (perhaps ‘clearing, patch of land’, glossing subsiciua) at AntGl 4 57 (see further Dance). Several place-name elements are, moreover, commonly understood as a reflex of the same OE *ryd-, viz. ryd ‘a clearing’, (ge)rydd ‘cleared (of trees)’, rydding ‘a clearing’ and ryden ‘a clearing’, altogether showing quite a wide dialectal distribution (see EPNE, OED s.vv. ridding n., rid adj.2). Derivation from an OE *ryddan is assumed by TGD, MED (which however retains a comparison to the ON cognate) and OED3.  

PGmc Ancestor

*ruð-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

ryðja 'to clear, make room'
(ONP ryðja (2) (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far ryðja, Icel ryðja, Norw rydja, Dan rydde, Sw rödja, röja

OE Cognate

cp. āryddan 'to strip, plunder', geryddan 'to clear (land)', hryding (n.) ‘clearing, cleared land’

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

CCC5

Attestation

Widespread in ME; MED has a few citations from literary sources, and attests it also in documentary and onomastic material from various parts of the country.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 364, 1344, 2246 

PS (1344n) take Gaw MS <ryde> at 1344 as a distinct by-form of the v. containing ME /i:/ and suggest an OE *rydan as its source (on the etymology of this, see further Dance).

Bibliography

MED ridden (v.) , OED3 rid (v.) , HTOED , HTOED , HTOED , Dance ryd, de Vries ryðja, Mag. ryðja, Bj-L. rydde, Orel *ruðjanan, AEW ā-ryddan (p. 265), DOE ā-ryddan, ā-rydran, EPNE *rȳd (etc.); (ge)ryd(d); *rydding; *ryden