Etymology

Rhyme in some positions confirms that the vocalism of ware, wore derives from ON, cp. OIcel vár-, rather than OE wǣr-, Angl wēr-, which in ME is spelt <e> (/e:) or shortened <a>(/a/). The st. class V v. *wesan- occurs throughout Gmc (cp. Go wisan, OIcel vera, OFris wesa, OS, OHG wesan).

PGmc Ancestor

*wēr-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

váru 'were'
(ONP vera (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far vóru, Icel voru, Norw var, Dan var, Sw var

OE Cognate

wǣron 'were'

Phonological and morphological markers

ON /ɑ:/ &lt; PGmc */e:/ (1)

Summary category

A1*c

Attestation

Ambiguous spellings often make it impossible to tell between forms derived from OE and ON in the absence of rhyme; N/EM forms with a <a> or <o> representing a long vowel are usually explained by Scandinavian influence (see further OED3, Jordan-Crook §49).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Pe 142, 151, 1027 etc.; Cl  928; WA 3, 13, 33 etc.

Bibliography

MED bẹ̄n (v.) , OED3 be (v.) , Bj. 85-6, de Vries vesa, Mag. vera, Orel *wesanan, Kroonen *wesan-, Heid wesa-