--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, wyrdplace@... wrote:

>
> Which is, I believe, related to the archaic English word 'bid' (past tense 'bade') -- as in, "He bid them depart." or "I bid you farewell."
>
> Jamie

Hi Jamie, the English verb <bid> takes its meanings from what were originally two distinct verbs, Old English <béodan> "to offer" (cognate with Old Norse <bjóða>), and Old English <biddan> "to request" (cognate with Old Norse <biðja>). They overlapped at an early time in the sense of offering a command, and asking someone to do something, but later in English the two verbs became more thoroughly mixed up. From <béodan>, we get <bid> in the sense of offering a price, bidding in an auction, and from <biddan>, we get "bid you farewell" (from the idea of asking, or praying that the person has a good journey).