Etymology

There are three chief interpretations of the n. skwez at Gaw 2167 (‘Þe skwez of þe scowtes skayned hym þoʒt’) (and see also skayned), the most plausible of which explains it by Norse derivation or input: (1) It has been derived in whole or in part from OE scua (scuwa) ‘shadow, shade, darkness; protection’ (Morris, followed by Strat-Brad, Bj. 132, OED; perh. also Madden); cp. OHG scuwo, scū and (with Verschärfung) OIcel skuggi and Go skuggwa (‘mirror’), < PGmc *skuww-. In this case initial <sk> is problematic, and might be explained as influence from the ON cognate which was loaned into Sc and N English as scug ‘shelter; cloak, pretence, outward show’, first recorded in the late 15c. (see OED s.v. scug n.1, EDD s.v. scug sb.1, v.1, Bj. 35). But there is no other securely attested ME word skw-, sku- meaning ‘shadow’ (the instance from the Promptorium Parvulorum of <scu> in the sense ‘screen’, cited under the same entry by both Strat-Brad. and OED (and accepted by Bj.), is probably unrelated etymologically; see further Dance). (2) Wright (1906: 220, followed by Emerson 1922: 404–5) instead identifies skwez with PDE dial skew in EDD’s sense (12) ‘a precipitous bank, more or less twisted in outline, a dwelling on the bank of a river’ and in the Gaw context translates 'jagged faces'. She explains the spelling <-we-> by comparison to forms in this scribal dial like <hwe, trwe>. EDD associates skew in this sense with skew (adj.) ‘askew, awry’, (n.) ‘a slant, anything crooked’ (etc.), presumably via the idea of something (in this case a topographical feature) at a steep slant, in which case it is etymologically identical with OED’s skew n.3 (‘side-glance; slant, slip’) and thus derived (via skew adj. or skew v.2) from the stem of OFr eskiu(w)er (eskuer, escuer), a form of OFr, AN eschivre ‘to avoid, keep away from, shun’ etc., ult. of Gmc origin (via a v. formed on the root of the adj. PGmc *skeuha-). OED’s skew n.2 (‘A stone specially intended or adapted for being placed with other similar ones to form the sloping head or coping of a gable’, = MED’s skeu n.2) might also be adduced (so Emerson 1902: 405); EDD lumps skew in this sense in with the other meanings of skew adj., adv., sb.1 and v.1 (as above, here sense (9)), but it is possible that it is originally a distinct word: OED derives it from OFr, AN escu < Lat scūtum ‘shield’. (3) All subsequent editors (and McGee 346, MED), however, have followed TG in identifying skwez very plausibly with ME skeu (<skiw-, skew-, sku-> etc.) ‘sky; cloud’ (as proposed by Sundén 1920: 147–8). This n. is best derived from an ON *skiu, which continues the original nom. sg. form *skiwi, and comes down to OIcel as the (rare) by-form skí ‘cloud’; cp. the more common OIcel variant ský (Far ský, Norw, Sw, Dan sky) which represents the oblique cases (< *skiuja-), and which > ME ski(e), PDE sky, and in WGmc cp. OE scēo (attested only once possibly meaning cloud, see further Dance), OS skio (neut., < PGmc *skewa(n)). There is an exact parallel for the Gaw form at Cl 483 (<skwe>) (on the spelling see further GDS Dial §47, TGD: 134). See also skwe (n.).

PGmc Ancestor

(1) *skuww-; (2) *skeuha-; (3) *skiwi

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

(1) skuggi 'shadow'; (3) skí ‘cloud’ (variant ský)
(ONP (1) skuggi (sb.); (3) ský (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

(1) Far skuggi, Icel skuggi, Norw skugge, Dan skygge, Sw skugga; (3) Far ský, skýggj, Icel ský, Norw sky, Dan sky, Sw sky

OE Cognate

(1) scua (scuwa) ‘shadow, shade, darkness; protection’; (3) scēo ?'cloud'

Phonological and morphological markers

[absence of palatalization of */sk/] (may not be applicable)

Summary category

D2

Attestation

(1) There are no other clear instances of a ME sku- ‘shadow’ (see etymological discussion (1)).  (2) PDE dial skew in the sense ‘a precipitous bank’ is attested in EDD from Cum. and Yks. The n. skew in its more basic sense ‘side-glance’ (etc.) is first known from the 16c., and the related v. ME skeuen from c1440(?a1400) Morte Arth.(1) (Thrn).  Perh. cp. also ME skeu ‘beveled stone used to form the slope of a gable coping’ (first recorded by MED from (1278) Burs.R.Merton in Archaeol.J.2).  (3) MED has a range of citations for ME skeu ‘sky; cloud’, from AW.A onwards; this variant is mainly SWM and N (inc. various alliterative poems), in contrast with the more widespread skī(e n. (see further Hug (1987: 352–4, followed by a discussion of synonyms), Miller forthcoming: 155).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 2167

Bibliography

MED skeu (n.1) , OED scu (n.) , Dance skwez, Bj. 132; (1) de Vries skuggi, Mag. skuggi, Orel *skuwwōn, Kroonen *skuwwan-, AEW scu(w)a, OED scug (n.1) , Bj. 35; (2) EDD skew (adj., adv., sb.1 and v.1) sense (12), MED skeu (n.2) , MED skeuen (v.2) , OED skew (n.2) , OED skew (n.3) , OED skew (v.2) , AND eschivre; escu, FEW Germanismes *skiuhjan; FEW scūtum; (3) de Vries ský, Mag. ský, Bj-L. sky (1), Orel *skiwōn, AEW scīo, OED skew (n.1) , OED sky (n.1) , Bj. 115