Etymology

Most of the 10 instances of the simplex <knot> in Gaw can be unambiguously identified with ME knotte (PDE knot) < OE cnotta, but two have been the subject of debate (‘In a knot bi a clyffe, at þe kerre syde’ (1431), ‘Þay vmbekesten þe knarre and þe knot boþe’ (1434)). (1a) It is possible to take knot at 1431 as another instance of ME knotte (which has the senses ‘knot; problem, riddle, mystery; point of a story, result of a battle; fastener; ornamental knob on armour; protuberance on a tree or root; joint in the body; small chunk of wood; small bundle’) with the meaning 'in a cluster' (GDS 1431-4n; MED sense 8(c)), (1b) but this will not account for knot at 1431, which must then be emended. GDS takes it as a scribal error for *kerre 'marsh overgrown with bushes' < ON kjarr (on which see ker). (2) Most editors, however, take knot at 1431 and 1434 (MED 1434 only) to refer to the same topographical feature and equate it with the place-name element knot (found chiefly but not only in the NW) denoting a (rocky) hillock or knoll (see further Wright 1906: 214, Elliott 1984: 78). This could be (a) a toponymic use of OE cnotta (thus OED, TG), with the sense of protuberance extending to a mass in the landscape (cp. the sense range of perh. related words like OIcel knútr). (b) The distribution of the onomastic element may indicate some input from an ON etymon, and this would help account for the sense of the ME: cp. OIcel knǫttr 'ball' (gen. sg. knattar) (with which cp. Far knøttur and further OIcel knatti ‘ball’, Norw, Sw dial knatt ‘mountain top’, Dan dial knat ‘sandy hill on a bank’, supposing a PGmc *knatt-). While formal derivation solely from ON is possible and has been argued (Magoun 1937:133, followed by McGee 338), late OE, ME /o/ would have to be explained as a reflex of a late ON (prob. OWN) form with u-mutation, which far more often results in ME /a/. Thus the vocalism of the ME is better explained by input from the formally and semantically proximate OE cnotta.

PGmc Ancestor

(1a) *knuttan-; (1b) *kerza; (2a) *knuttan-(2b) *knatt-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

(1b) kjarr 'copsewood, brushwood’; (2b) knǫttr ‘ball’  
(ONP (1b) kjarr (sb.); (2b) knǫttr (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

(1b) Far (name element) kjarr, Icel kjarr, Norw kjarr, kjerr, Dan kær, Sw kärr 

OE Cognate

(1a) cnotta 'knot, fastening' (also used fig.)

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

DD2

Attestation

(1a) ME knotte ‘knot’ is common and widespread from the early 13c.  (b) For ME ker see ker. (2) ME knot referring to a small hill (vel sim) is found only in Gaw and in toponyms; see MED senses (9) and (10b) (from (1154-89) EPNSoc.43 (Wm.) on; mostly N/EM, but two citations from Wor. names), and further OED sense (16), EPNE and Elliott (1984: 61–2).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 1431, 1434

Bibliography

MED knotte (n.) , OED knot (n.1) , HTOED , Dance knot; (1a) Orel *knuttōn, Kroonen *knūþan- ~ *knuttan-, AEW cnotta, DOE cnotta; (1b) de Vries kjarr, Mag. kjarr, Orel *kerzan, MED kēr (n.) , OED carr, car (2) , Bj. 142, EPNE kjarr; (2b) de Vries knǫttr, Mag. knöttur, Torp NnEO Knott (2), Falk-Torp knatt, Hellq knatte, EPNE knǫttr