Gegrindswile: KU’s Old English Word
Three Old English leaves call KU Libraries home, and one contains a one-and-only word!
Spencer Research Library holds three Old English leaves, each with its own fascinating story. The leaf shown above (in its recto and verso sides) is an early 11th century glossary giving brief definitions of difficult Latin words. Most of the glosses are also in Latin, but some are in Old English. The two sides of the leaf cover the Latin words interkalares to istingum.
Though rather weathered-looking, the leaf contains perhaps the sole surviving instance of an Old English word: gegrindswile. Like many words of Germanic origin, gegrindswile is a compound. Its two parts —gegrind and swile– survive in other texts, but this leaf is the only instance recorded in the Dictionary of Old English Corpus of the two combined. Together they form a single word meaning “a swelling caused by friction, a chafing or galling (of the skin),” which glosses the Latin word intertrigenes.
Discover more about the leaf and the rare word it contains on the KSRL blog.