Wight
Encyclopedia
Wight is a Middle English word, from Old English wiht, and used to describe a creature
Organism
In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...

 or living sentient being. It is akin to Old High German wiht, meaning a creature or thing.

In its original usage the word wight described a living human being. More recently, the word has been used within the fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 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
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...

 Barrow-Wights from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

 and the wights
Wight (Dungeons & Dragons)
A wight is an undead creature in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Publication history:The wight takes its inspiration from the barrow-wights in the world of Middle-earth created by J. R. R...

 of Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

.

The English word is cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...

 with other Germanic words like Dutch wicht, German Wicht, Old Norse vættir
Vættir
Vættir or wights are nature spirits in the Norse religion. These nature spirits divide up into 'families', including the Álfar , Dvergar , Jötnar , and even gods, the Æsir and Vanir, who are understood to be prominent families among them. The term 'families' is often translated as 'clans' or...

, Swedish vätte, Danish vætte. Modern High German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 Wicht means 'small person, dwarf,' and also 'unpleasant person,' while in Low German
Low German
Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...

 the word means 'girl.' The Wicht, Wichtel or Wichtelchen of Germanic folklore is most commonly translated into English as an imp
Imp
An imp is a mythological being similar to a fairy or demon, frequently described in folklore and superstition. The word may perhaps derive from the term ympe, used to denote a young grafted tree.-Folklore:...

, 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
    Geoffrey Chaucer
    Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...

     (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
    Geoffrey Chaucer
    Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...

     (1368–1372), The Book of the Duchess, line 579:
    "Worste of alle wightes."

  • Geoffrey Chaucer
    Geoffrey Chaucer
    Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...

     (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
    Geoffrey Chaucer
    Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...

     (circa 1379-1380), The House of Fame, line 1830-1831:
    "We ben shrewes, every wight,
    And han delyt in wikkednes."

  • Edmund Spenser
    Edmund Spenser
    Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...

     (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
    William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

     (circa 1602), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act I, Sc. III:
    "O base Hungarian wight! wilt thou the spigot wield?

  • William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

     (circa 1603), Othello, Act II, Sc. I:
    "She was a wight, if ever such wight were"

  • John Milton
    John Milton
    John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...

     (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
    Washington Irving
    Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...

     (1820) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
    "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., written while he was living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820...

    "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
    TSR, Inc.
    Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....

     (1974) Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set
    Dungeons & Dragons (1974)
    The original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson was published by TSR, Inc. in 1974. It initially included the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...

    The wight
    Wight (Dungeons & Dragons)
    A wight is an undead creature in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Publication history:The wight takes its inspiration from the barrow-wights in the world of Middle-earth created by J. R. R...

     was described as being able to drain away energy levels on a touch.

  • Ubisoft
    Ubisoft
    Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....

     (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
    George R. R. Martin
    George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...

    , A Song of Ice and Fire
    A Song of Ice and Fire
    A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the series in 1991 and the first volume was published in 1996. Originally planned as a trilogy, the series now consists of five published volumes; a further two...

    series, Book I A Game of Thrones
    A Game of Thrones
    A Game of Thrones is the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 6 August 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award, and was nominated for both the 1998 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award...

    (1996):
    "When he opened his mouth to scream, the wight jammed its black corpse fingers into Jon's mouth."

  • George R. R. Martin
    George R. R. Martin
    George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...

    , A Song of Ice and Fire
    A Song of Ice and Fire
    A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the series in 1991 and the first volume was published in 1996. Originally planned as a trilogy, the series now consists of five published volumes; a further two...

    series, Book IV A Feast for Crows
    A Feast for Crows
    A Feast for Crows is the fourth of seven planned novels in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by American author George R. R. Martin...

    (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
    Boris Sagal
    Boris Sagal was a Ukrainian-born American television and film director.-Early life and career:Born in Yekaterinoslav, Soviet Union, Sagal emigrated to the United States where he attended the Yale School of Drama. Sagal's many TV credits include directing episodes of The Twilight Zone, "T.H.E...

    , The Omega Man
    The Omega Man
    The Omega Man is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston. It is based on the novel I Am Legend by American writer Richard Matheson...

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