werle

n.

(1a) ?'circlet, circular ornament'; (1b) 'circle, ring (of hair)'; (2) 'attire, covering'

(Modern English )

Etymology

The interpretation of werle in Pe 209 ('to hed hade ho non oþer werle'), referring either to the girl's 'pyght coroune' (205) or possibly '*here' (210, see EVGn) is contested. (1) It is most plausibly identified with the n. whirl, and thus one of two closely related words derived from the PGmc v. *xwerƀan- 'to turn' (cp. whyrlande). (a) EVG suggests OE hwyrfel, glossing ?'circlet, circular ornament'. Late WS hwyrfel ‘circuit, exterior, higher part’ probably represents the a-grade of the root. (b) EVG also compares Du wervel and ON hvirfill (cp. OIcel hvirfill 'circle, ring, crown of the head' (< *xwerƀilaz, cp. OHG wirbil 'whirlwind')), which Emerson (1922: 65-6) prefers as the source of werle (and McGee cautiously supports, noting that it fits well with the sense of the line) and it provides a better match for both form and sense. (2) More speculatively, Goll (209n, similarly OED), though he calls the history of the word 'doubtful', follows Holthausen in reconstructing a native n. *werels 'clothing, dress' (cp. OIcel vesl 'cloak' < *weslan, related to th wk. v. represented by Go wasjan, OE werian 'to clothe' etc.) and interprets werle as a sg. 'attire, covering'.

PGmc Ancestor

(1a) *xwarƀilaz; (1b) *xwerƀilaz; (2) *was(j)an-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

hvirfill 'circle, ring, crown of the head'
(ONP hvirfill (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far hvir(v)il, Icel hvirfill, Norw kvirvel, kvervil, Dan hvirvel, Sw (h)virvel

OE Cognate

(1) hwyrfel ?'circuit, exterior, higher part'

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

D2

Attestation

hapax legomenon

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Pe 209

Osgood (209n) emends to *herle, glossing 'filament, hair, fillet?' (comparing MLG/LG) as in Gaw 190. On the sense 'covering, head-dress' in context, see Goll 209n.

Bibliography

MED werle (n.) ; (1) Orel *xwerƀanan, Kroonen *hwerban-, Seebold Hwerb-a-; (1a) AEW hwierfel; (1b) MED whirl (n.) , OED whirl (n.) , de Vries hvirfill, Mag. hvirfill, Orel *xwerƀilaz; (2) OED werle (n.) , HTOED , Orel *wasjanan ~ *wazjanan