Modern English Modern Fantasy Wights feature in
J. R. R. Tolkien's world of
Middle-earth, especially in
The Lord of the Rings, and in
George R. R. Martin's novel series
A Song of Ice and Fire. Since
its 1974 inclusion in the RPG
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), it has become a recurring form of
undead in other fantasy games and mods, such as
Vampire: The Masquerade.
Examples of usage •
Edmund Spenser,
The Faerie Queene, (1590–1596), I.i.6.8–9: • : "That every wight to shrowd it did constrain, • : And this fair couple eke to shroud themselues were fain." •
William Shakespeare,
The Merry Wives of Windsor, (c. 1602), Act I, Sc. III: • : "O base Hungarian wight! wilt thou the spigot wield?" •
William Shakespeare,
Othello, (c. 1603), Act II, Sc. I: • : "She was a wight, if ever such wight were" •
John Milton,
On the Death of a Fair Infant Dying of a Cough, (1626), verse vi: • : "Oh say me true if thou wert mortal 'wight..." •
Church of Scotland,
Scots Metrical Psalter, (1650), Psalm 18 verse xxvi: • : "froward thou kythst unto the froward wight..." •
William Wordsworth, "To the Daisy" (1802) line 28: • : Whole Summer-fields are thine by right; • : And Autumn, melancholy wight! • : Doth in thy crimson head delight • : When rains are on thee. •
John Keats, "
La Belle Dame Sans Merci", (1820): • : Ah what can ail thee, wretched wight, • : Alone and palely loitering; •
Washington Irving, "
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820): • : "In this by-place of nature there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity." •
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1812–1816), ''
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage ''Canto 1, verse : • : Ah, me! in sooth he was a shamles wight ...". •
Edwin Greenslade Murphy, "Wot Won the Larst?", in
Dryblower’s Verses, (1926): • : From weedy little wights whose cigarettes • : Recall a badly-disinfected drain •
W.S. Gilbert, "
Princess Ida", (1883), a song sung by the character King Gama: • : "Now when a wight sits up all night, ill natured jokes devising,and all his wiles are met with smiles, it's hard, there's no disguising!"
German A similar change of meaning can be seen in the
German cognate
Wicht, meaning a living human being, generally rather small, poor or miserable man (not woman). The word is somewhat old-fashioned in today's language, but it is still used and readily recognized in everyday speech. The diminutive
Wichtel refers to beings in folklore and fantasy, generally small, and often helpful, dwelling in or near human settlements, secretly doing work and helping the humans, somewhat similar to the more specific
Heinzelmännchen. Wichtel in this sense is recorded since the
Middle Ages. Today,
Wichtel is more often used than
Wicht.
Dutch The word
wicht can be used to refer, to any woman, often with negative connotations. It is not used to refer to men.
Booswicht (literally evil-being) matching 'villain', can be used to describe both men and women.
North Germanic languages In Danish, the term and the Norwegian cognate typically refer to supernatural beings from folklore or a lesser god, especially those that live underground or near the home, such as
dwarfs and
nisser. In Swedish, similarly typically refers to supernatural beings, often those that are small and resembling humans. ==See also==