An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wut

by Friedrich Kluge

Wut, feminine, ‘rage, fury, madness,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German wuot, feminine; in Old High German also wuot, Anglo-Saxon wôd, English wood, adjective, ‘furious, mad,’ Gothic wôds, ‘possessed, lunatic.’ There exist, besides these cognates, Anglo-Saxon wôð, ‘voice, song,’ Old Icelandic óðr, ‘poetry, song.’ The connection between the meanings is found in the primitively allied Latin vátes, ‘inspired singer’ (Old Irish fáith, ‘poet’); compare the Sanscrit root vat, ‘to animate spiritually.’ From the same is probably derived the name of the Old Teutonic god Wôdan (Anglo-Saxon Wôden, *Wêden, Old Saxon Wôdan, Old Icelandic Oðenn, Old High German Wuotan), whose name is preserved in Dutch Woensdag, English Wednesday. The originally mythological idea of das wütende Heer, ‘the spectral host,’ is based on Middle High German (and Old High German) Wuotanes her, ‘Odin’s host.’