Etymology
The first element of this compound is most likely derived from ON, but the interpretation of the word in context (‘And ʒe he lad hem bi lagmon, þe lorde and his meyny, / On þis maner bi þe mountes quyle myd-ouer-vnder’) has been debated as well as the etymology of
lag-: (1) Some early commentators accept M(G)'s emendation to *<bi-laggid men>, which must then be associated with ME
bilaggen, attested twice as a pp. glossed by
MED as ‘Miry, muddy; bespattered, soiled’ next to the equally rare simplex
laggen ‘To soil (sb. or sth.), make dirty’, and further with
EDD lag (v.4 and sb.8) ‘to draggle in the mud; to bedraggle or cover with mud’, ‘a dirty mess or smear or coating of mud on the bottom of a dress etc.’ The etymology of this
lag(g)- is, however, deeply obscure. It is possible to connect it with
EDD's lag (sb. 2) 'a long, narrow, marshy meadow, usually by the side of a stream' (attested from Sus. and Som.) and thus with the toponym late OE
lacge- (Wor., Sur., Wil.; see
EPNE). OE
lacge- has no manifest ulterior etymology, unless it is derived from a Celtic word represented by Corn
lagen, Ir
lagan 'pond, pool, small lake' (
MED, apparently in large part because
EDD's lag (v.4 and sb.8) is confined to Cornwall). (2) Most editors since have instead accepted Menner's (1931) defence of the MS reading (comparing a similar construction 'Lykyng of flesche..ledys ʒoue be lagmon be lyus' in a1450 ?Audelay
An a byrchyn bonke (Dc 302) 222/114 (prob. Shr.;
LALME LP 189 localises the dial of this text to Stf.)) and gloss
leden bi lagmon 'to lead...astray'. The first element
lag- is very plausibly identified with
OED's lag (n.1 and adj.) 'the last or hindmost person (in a race, game, sequence of any kind) (etc.)', ‘last, hindmost, belated, lingering behind lagging, tardy (etc.)', first attested in the 16c.; note
lag-man in Nashe (1599), and cp. further the dial. usage in
EDD, which includes (sense 4.7) a compound in
-man, ‘an epithet applied to the last of a gang of reapers or mowers’. MnE
lag could be derived from (a) ON (Menner, followed by most subsequent scholarship), cp. Sw dial
lagga 'to wander aimlessly', Norw
lagga 'to go slowly and gradually' (explained by Torp as an intensive formation on ON
liggja 'to lie', presumably on the pret. stem
lag), which are a good fit in form and sense. (b) Less likely alternatives include derivation from a Celtic word (ult.
*laggó-s) (rejected by
OED and Menner), and even more speculatively (by
OED) an alteration of
PDE lack adj. or v. (cp. Dan
lakke 'to go slowly') or 'an arbitrary distortion' of
last. (3) Matthews (1975, not followed by any subsequent commentators) identifies
lagmon with ME
laue-man ‘one of a number of local magistrates administering justice in a borough or town’, i.e. late OE
lahmann, formed on OE
lagu probably < ON
*lagu, cp. OIcel
lǫg ‘law; law community, law-district’ (see
lawe), or direct from an ON compound represented by OIcel
laga-maðr or
lǫg-maðr. He reads
lad … bi lagmon as ‘cunningly led astray (as if by a lawyer)’, though without adequately explaining the construction of the ME idiom. The ME spelling in <g> would be peculiar (Vant 1729n), moreover, although influence by a loan into medieval Brit Lat, viz.
lagamannus,
lagemannus (see
MED,
OED) is conceivable.
PGmc Ancestor
(2a) *lag(g)-; (3) *lag-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
(2a) cp. liggja (v.) 'to lie'; (3) lǫg ‘law; law community, law-district’, cp. laga-maðr, lǫg-maðr
(ONP (3) laga-maðr (sb.), lǫg-maðr (sb.), lag (sb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
(2a) cp. Norw lagga, Sw dial lagga; (3) Far lóg, Icel lög, Norw log, Dan lov, Sw lag
OE Cognate
Phonological and morphological markers
[absence of palatalization of */ɡ/]
(possibly diagnostic)
(may not be applicable)
Summary category
D2