Wurdahuzdą: Proto-Germanic dictionary — *AgiþewazScott K. ShayWardja Presshttps://protogermanic.org/pgmc_agiþewaz
Single-entry extract from the dictionary. Cross-references to other entries point to their identifiers in the full dictionary.
An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary OnlineJosephBosworthT.NorthcoteTollerEd ChristSeanOndřejTichýPragueFaculty of Arts, Charles University2014Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11)GuusKroonenBrill2013From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English, 2nd edition)DonRingeOxfordOxford University Press2017Names and Naming in “Beowulf”: Studies in Heroic Narrative TraditionPhilip A.ShawLondonBloomsbury Academic2020eġefear, aweEċġþēowthe name of Beowulf’s fathereċġedge
propnmasculinea-stema male given name; literally ‘edge-servant’ or ‘sword-retainer’, probably functioning as a heroic/warrior nameFrom *agjō + *þewaz, continued most clearly by Old English Eċġþēow, the name of Beowulf’s father. The first element is from *agjō, rather than *agaz, since Old English eċġ directly reflects *agjō, whereas *agaz lead to Old English eġeBosworth & Toller 2014: s.vv. ecg, þeówKroonen 2013: 4Ringe 2017: 145–46. The second element,*þewaz, is secure within Germanic, but its deeper PIE derivation is debated. Kroonen 2013: 541 treats it as Germanic-only or at least without a fully secure PIE prehistory. The Old English reflex appears to preserve a Continental Germanic heroic name: Shaw 2020: 26–29 argues that its first element was common in Old English but not securely productive in Scandinavian naming, while the second element was not productive in Old English names; both elements, however, are well represented in Continental Germanic onomastics. Shaw also compares the Scandinavian cognate Eggþér, found in the Vǫluspá edda and in Saxo’s writings, suggesting that the name may have been associated with a heroic single-combat figure before being reinterpreted in Scandinavian mythic contexts.