Etymology
The broad sense of
sorʒe in the context of
Cl 846 is taken by most editors as 'filth' (with 'ʒestande sorʒe', cp. 'spitous fylþe' in the line above) in a figurative sense referring to sin, but there is disagreement about the identification of this word: (1) Menner and GollCl look to an ON etymon related to the n. represented by OIcel
saurr 'mud, dirt' (see further
soerly (adj., adv.)), suggesting
saurgan (n.) 'pollution, defilement' or
saurigr (adj.) 'filthy, dirty' (both are attested relatively early in similar religious contexts, see ONP). This would make sense of the form, if the spelling <o> represents /o:/ (as it apparently occurs in some names, see
MED s.v.
sour (n.1)) and provides the most straightforward reading of the sense. Vantuono favours this identification, but suggests a figurative sense 'disgust' (glossing the phrase 'mounting disgust'), which he also reads as the sense of
Cl 75
sorʒe. (2) Anderson includes
Cl 846 (and by extension
Pat 275 which is identified with it by 846n) in his entry for
sorewe < OE
sorg (<
*surgō-, cp. Goth
saurga, OIcel
sorg, OS and OHG
sorga) but glosses 'muck, filth', but does not explain the sense development.
MED also mentions this possibility (as well as (1)), but accounts for the sense by influence from ON, either from
sour (n.1) or directly, cp. OIcel
saurr.
PGmc Ancestor
(1) *saur-; (2) *surgō-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
(1) saurgan (n.) 'pollution, defilement', cp. saurigr (adj.) 'filthy, dirty'; (2) cp. saurr (n.) 'mud, dirt'
(ONP (1) saurgun (sb.), cp. saurigr (adj.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
(1) Far seyrur, Icel saur, Norw saur, ODan sør, OSw sör-, Sw dial sör
OE Cognate
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
D2