‘Weird’ has become commonplace word in standard modern English.
The word is often applied instinctively, an impulsive reaction against something strange, ‘abnormal’, a deviation from from initial expectation.
Weird possesses a dualistic feature: at once it can serve as a derogatory term to ridicule one for their ‘unfamiliarity’, or 'abnormality'; often an adolescent insult in the vulgar vernacular of ‘weirdo’. On the other hand, to call one 'weird' can serve to commend or praise one for their unique eccentricity.
Historically, ‘weird’ appears in it’s earliest, recognizable form as ‘Wyrd’, during Old English period, around the 7th century. 'Wyrd' appears in many prominent Anglo-Saxon texts such as Beowulf, The Ruins, The Wanderer, The Seafarer and Solomon and Saturn (to name a few).
During this Old English period, 'wyrd' was a noun-possessing an archetypal personification of fate, destiny: whose roots suggestively stem from either Classical and, or, Old Nordic traditions. At the same time, it was also applied to the notion of time passed- thus, applicable as a verb.
After the Norman conquest, and subsequent divergence into Middle-English, Wyrd is little traced, but nonetheless, appearing in a works of Chaucer’s, until completely dissipating from Middle English vocabulary. It did however survive, if at all outside of archaic, literary reference, in Middle Scots.
By the 15th century, the word was seemingly extinct (not traced in any form of late Middle-English and Early Modern literature). Then, by seminal play of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, wyrd received a reinvigoration, if not revival, as an adjective, the ‘Weird Sisters’.
Since then, 'weird' has steadily assumed its commonplace in standard Modern English. Despite being a fairly commonplace, instinctive term-used by both adolescence and adults- it has increased its vagueness, yet at the same time enhanced its mystifying representation. During the 19th and 20th century, the sub-genre of ‘Weird Fiction’ arose as an offshoot of late Gothic-Horror and Fantasy Fiction, primarily following on from the supernatural and macabre folkloric tales of H.P. Lovecraft.
The following serialized investigation will explore the linguistic and mythopoetic representations of ‘weird’ across English literature and European translation. As the study will prove, the origins and meanings of 'wyrd' are heavily contested, remaining still in the 21st century a contended source of debate and discussion.
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