OE fēs(i)an / ME fēsen revisited

Abstract

This paper reviews the evidence behind the three main etymological explanations suggested for OE fēs(i)an/ ME fēsen (viz. PGmc *fausjan, PGmc *funsjan and ON *feysa). It argues that none of them can straightforwardly account for the recorded Old and Middle English forms, and that evidence, as it stands, cannot be used to support the increasingly numerous attempts to derive this term from Old Norse despite the apparent late attestation of this verb in Old English and its almost absolute restriction during this period to the Wulfstanian canon, which is renowned for containing a large amount of Norse-derived terms.