--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...> wrote:
>
> While we're at it, the oldest known f*** word in English was <sard>,
> which became completely extinct in the 17th c. Its OE ancestor is
> attested just once, in Northumbrian, as an imperative (<ne serÏ>).
All
> later forms have /d/, and the OE word was likely *seordan, *seard,
> *surdon, *sorden (ON serÏa, sarÏ, --, sorÏenn/stroÏenn). It isn't
clear
> if the Northumbrian example represents an inherited word or a
> Scandinavian loan. There are also High German cognates (e.g. OHG
sertan*
> < *serÏ-a/i- and serten* (wk.) < *sarÏ-ija/i:-). Where can it come
from?
> Any thoughts?
The word seems to be cognate to ON sorðinn (and sann-sorðinn)
meaning "homosexual" (and being a very grave insult in Viking times as
you may guess). Cf. the Icelandic law code Grágás (ca. 1100-1200 C.E.):
Þav ero orð riú ef sva mioc versna máls endar manna er scog gang vaðla
avll. Ef maðr kallar man ragan eða stroðinn eða sorðinn. Oc scal sökia
sem avnnor full rettis orð enda a maðr vigt igegn þeim orðum þrimr.
"Then there are three terms which occasion bringing such a serious
suit against a man that they are worthy to outlaw him. If a man call a
man unmanly [effeminate], or homosexual, or demonstrably homosexually
used by another man, he shall proceed to prosecute as with other terms
of abuse, and indeed a man has the right to avenge with combat for
these terms of abuse".
(taken from [
http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/gayvik.shtml%5d).