Entertainment / Literature / Wyrd: Often translated as 'fate,' wyrd is an Anglo-Saxon term that embodies the concept of inevitability in Old English poetry. Unlike destiny, in which one imagines looking forward into the future to see the outcome of one's life, wyrd appears to be linked to the past. As an example illustrating this difference, a male speaker might claim, 'It is my destiny to eat too many hamburgers, develop high cholesterol, and die of a heart attack in Pittsburgh at age fifty-three.' The speaker is predicting what will inevitably happen to him, what is fated to occur sometime in the future. On the other hand, one might claim, 'It is my wyrd to be born as a Caucasian child to impoverished parents who neglected to feed me properly, so that my health is always bad.' In the first case, the speaker describing destiny implies that the future is set, and therefore the outcome of his life is beyond his control. In the second case, the speaker describing wyrd implies that the past is unchangeable, and therefore the current circumstances in which he finds himself are beyond his alteration. In Anglo-Saxon narratives, heroic speakers like Beowulf describe themselves as being 'fated' (i.e., having a wyrd) that requires them to act in a certain way. It is Beowulf's wyrd to help King Hrothgar, not because some abstract destiny wills it so, but because in the past, Hrothgar helped Beowulf's father, and it is Beowulf's duty to return that favor. The exact circumstances are beyond Beowulf's control, but Beowulf can choose how he reacts to that 'fate.' This idea contrasts with the Greek idea of moira.
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Entertainment / Literature / Moira: Fate or the three fates in Greek mythology. Contrast with wyrd. MORE
Entertainment / Literature / Grue Language: In linguistic anthropology, any language using a single word to describe both the hue of green and the hue of blue simultaneously is called a 'grue' language. An example is Welsh, in which the word gw MORE