v. (pres. 3 sg.)
Cl pres. 3 pl. ruþen, pp. ruþed
‘bestir, rouse’
(Modern English ruthe)Found only in the Gaw MS, two different ON etyma have been proposed for this difficult word (which early commentators incl. OED2 and GDS do not offer any etymology for): (1) Kullnick (16) suggests the formally compatible ON ryðja, presumably OIcel ryðja 'to clear, make room, strip; challenge' (cp. OFris tōrothia, MLG rōden, rāden, MDu roden ‘to remove (trees, weeds, undergrowth etc.) from a piece of land’, wk. 2 formations probably on the same root; see further ryd), but it is hard to identify with ME ruþes in terms of sense. (2) TG (1558n, followed by TGD, Sundén 1930: 117-22) offer a better suggestion: an ON v. represented by OIcel hryðja, with an original sense 'to shake' (cp. MHG rütten 'to shake'). Some of the senses attested for OIcel hryðja (i.e. ‘to clear (land), empty, unload, challenge (legal)’ beside ‘to throw, toss upon’) are then explained by this v. having been confused with the originally distinct OIcel ryðja (see (1) above, and ryd). Sundén argues for a PGmc *xruð- or *xruþ-, giving a wk. 1 v.*xruðjan- as the source. Evidence for OE reflexes of such a root 'shake' is slim (see further Sundén, Dance); OE hryd- might be identified with it, but the possible existence of variants of the root with and without Verner's Law mean that the medial fricative cannot be safely used as a test of loan in the case of ME ruþen.
PGmc Ancestor
(1) *ruð-; (2) *xruð- or *xruþ-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
(1) ryðja ‘to clear, make room, strip; challenge’; (2) hryðja 'to clear; to challenge (legal); to throw, toss upon'
(ONP (1) ryðja (2) (vb.); (2) hryðja (2) (vb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
(1) Far ryðja, Icel ryðja, Norw rydja, Dan rydde, Sw rödja, röja; (2) Far ryðja, Icel hryðja
OE Cognate
(2) *hryddan, cp. ahrydred (pp.) 'pillaged, plundered', hryding (n.) 'clearing, patch of land'
Phonological and morphological markers
[ON fricative /ð/ < PGmc */ð/] (possibly diagnostic) (may not be applicable)
Summary category
D1c
All three instances are from the Gaw MS.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 1558; Cl 895, 1208
The earliest editors of Gaw were unsure of the meaning of this word, thus Madden glosses ‘moves, dresses?’, followed (without the ‘?’) by Morris.)