In Anglo-Saxon lawwer was the value of a man's life. He could be required to pay his wer to the king as a penalty for crime.[2] If he was murdered then his relatives were entitled to his wergild as compensation from the murderer.
Etymology and usage
Look up Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/weraz in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The word has cognates in various other languages, for example, the words vir (as in virility) and fear (plural fir as in Fir Bolg) are the Latin and Gaelic for a male human.
While this prefix may not be derived from the above word,[3] in folklore and fantasyfiction, were- is often used as a prefix applied to an animal name to indicate a type of therianthropic figure or shapeshifter (e.g. "were-boar"). Hyphenation used to be mandatory, but is now commonly dropped, as in werecat and wererat. This usage can be seen as a back-formation from werewolf (literally, "man-wolf"), as there is no equivalent wifwolf or wyfwolf yet attested.
^Rauer, Christine (January 2017). "Mann and Gender in Old English Prose: A Pilot Study". Neophilologus. 101 (1): 139–158. doi:10.1007/s11061-016-9489-1. hdl:10023/8978. S2CID 55817181.
^Molyneaux, George (2015). The Formation of the English Kingdom in the Tenth Century. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 72. ISBN978-0-19-871791-1.
were, other, uses, disambiguation, ohio, radio, station, were, look, english, wiktionary, free, dictionary, archaic, terms, adult, male, humans, were, often, used, alliteration, with, wife, were, wife, germanic, speaking, cultures, english, dutch, gothic, waír. For other uses see Were disambiguation For the Ohio radio station see WERE Look up wer English in Wiktionary the free dictionary Were and wer are archaic terms for adult male humans and were often used for alliteration with wife as were and wife in Germanic speaking cultures 1 Old English wer Old Dutch wer Gothic wair Old Frisian wer Old Saxon wer Old High German wer Old Norse verr In Anglo Saxon law wer was the value of a man s life He could be required to pay his wer to the king as a penalty for crime 2 If he was murdered then his relatives were entitled to his wergild as compensation from the murderer Etymology and usage Edit Look up Reconstruction Proto Germanic weraz in Wiktionary the free dictionary The word has cognates in various other languages for example the words vir as in virility and fear plural fir as in Fir Bolg are the Latin and Gaelic for a male human While this prefix may not be derived from the above word 3 in folklore and fantasy fiction were is often used as a prefix applied to an animal name to indicate a type of therianthropic figure or shapeshifter e g were boar Hyphenation used to be mandatory but is now commonly dropped as in werecat and wererat This usage can be seen as a back formation from werewolf literally man wolf as there is no equivalent wifwolf or wyfwolf yet attested See also EditList of common false etymologies of English words Other for a longer discussion of wer wyf and mann Man word For shapeshifters Cynanthropy Lycanthropy disambiguation Mannaz Skin walker Therianthropy Werecat Werehyena Were jaguar Wererat WerewolfReferences Edit Rauer Christine January 2017 Mann and Gender in Old English Prose A Pilot Study Neophilologus 101 1 139 158 doi 10 1007 s11061 016 9489 1 hdl 10023 8978 S2CID 55817181 Molyneaux George 2015 The Formation of the English Kingdom in the Tenth Century Oxford UK Oxford University Press p 72 ISBN 978 0 19 871791 1 Concise OED entry werewolf Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Were amp oldid 1079373930, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
