Wight

For other uses, see Wight (disambiguation).

Wight is a Middle English word, from Old English wiht, and used to describe a creature or living sentient being. It is akin to Old High German wiht, meaning a creature or thing.^[1][2]

In its original usage the word wight described a living human being.^[3] More recently, the word has been used within the fantasy genre of literature to describe undead or wraith-like creatures: corpses with a part of their decayed soul still in residence, often draining life from their victims. Notable examples of this include the undead Barrow-Wights from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and the wights of Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

The English word is cognate with other Germanic words like Dutch wicht, German Wicht, Old Norse vættir, Swedish vätte, Danish vætte. Modern High German Wicht means 'small person, dwarf,' and also 'unpleasant person,' while in Low German the word means 'girl.' The Wicht, Wichtel or Wichtelchen of Germanic folklore is most commonly translated into English as an imp, a small, shy character who often does helpful domestic chores when nobody is looking (as in the Tale of the Cobbler's Shoes). These terms are not related to the English word witch. In Scandinavian folklore, too, wights are elusive creatures not unlike elves, capable of mischief as well as of help.

In literature and culture

Examples of the word used in classic English literature and poetry:

• Geoffrey Chaucer (1368–1372), The Monk's Tale, line 380:

  "She kept her maidenhead from every wight, And unto no man would she yield her hand.."

• Geoffrey Chaucer (1368–1372), The Book of the Duchess, line 579:

  "Worste of alle wightes."

• Geoffrey Chaucer (1368–1372), Prologue of The Knight, line 72-73:

  "In all his life, to whatsoever wight.

  He was a truly perfect, gentle knight."

• Geoffrey Chaucer (circa 1379-1380), The House of Fame, line 1830-1831:

  "We ben shrewes, every wight,

  And han delyt in wikkednes."

• Edmund Spenser (1590–1596), The Faerie Queene, I.i.6.8-9:

  "That every wight to shrowd it did constrain,

  And this fair couple eke to shroud themselues were fain."

• William Shakespeare (circa 1602), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act I, Sc. III:

  "O base Hungarian wight! wilt thou the spigot wield?

• William Shakespeare (circa 1603), Othello, Act II, Sc. I:

  "She was a wight, if ever such wight were"

• John Milton (1626), On the Death of a Fair Infant Dying of a Cough, verse vi:

  "Oh say me true if thou wert mortal wight..."

• Washington Irving (1820) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

  "In this by-place of nature there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity."

• TSR (1974) Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set

  The wight was described as being able to drain away energy levels on a touch.^[4]

• Ubisoft (2006) Heroes of Might and Magic 5

  In the game wights are the 6th tier creature to the Necropolis faction. They have high health and attack points and even have an ability called Harm Touch where they can attack and kill at least 1 enemy every time with no retaliation.

• George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire series, Book I A Game of Thrones (1996):

  "When he opened his mouth to scream, the wight jammed its black corpse fingers into Jon's mouth."

• George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire series, Book IV A Feast for Crows (2005):

  "Who has been beyond the wall of death to see? Only the wights, and we know what they are like. We know."

• Boris Sagal, The Omega Man

  The 'nocturnals' of Sagal's 1971 motion picture The Omega Man could be considered a filmic example of the wight.

See also

• Wraith
• Isle of Wight

References

1. ^ Merriam-Webster, 1974.
2. ^ T. F. HOAD. "wight." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 19, 2010 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-wight.html
3. ^ Wight, in the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 1974 edition.
4. ^ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson. Dungeons & Dragons (3-Volume Set) (TSR, 1974)