Saturday 8 November 2014

Willy nilly

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From Christopher Tolkien's glossary to Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale: 

Medieval English possessed special negative forms of some common verbs; see nys, nas, nere, noot [ nys from ne is, is not; nas from ne was, was not; nere from ne were, were it not; noot from ne woot, I do not know]... 

The phrase 'willy nilly' still contains one: 'will I, nill I' or whether I wish it or wish it not.  

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The usage appears in Arwen's tragic words beside Aragorn's death bed:

I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nil: the loss and the silence.  

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2 comments:

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

I still use this.

http://en.search.wordpress.com/?q=nill&site=wmjas.wordpress.com

Samson J. said...

That's interesting. I think most of us probably only know the other meaning of "willy nilly":

adverb
1.
in a disorganized or unplanned manner; sloppily.