How do you pronounce "dweomer"?

[Zander]

How do you pronounce "dweomer"?

If your pronunciation isn't listed exactly as you say it, please choose the option that comes closest.

NB I'm trying to find out how it is used in practice, not what its correct pronunciation is which has already been discussed on these boards.

 

[Ry]

I've always heard DWEEmer.

 

[wayne62682]

I say it DWIM-mer as in "Begone, foul dwimmerlaik" (Eowyn to the Witch-King)

 

[arscott]

I'll say it "DWEE-oh-mer" the first time, and then immediately realize it's wrong and say "DWIM-mer" from then on.

 

[Huw]

Dwimer or dweemer.

 

[mythusmage]

"Dwimmer" was the Old English. "Dweomer" the earlier Saxon. The "dw" really represents a sound no longer found in English. So if you pronounce it as "d eliding (kind of like sliding but not really) into w" you're not even close enough for horseshoes and handgrenades. The "e" modifies the previous sound, with the "o" being the next truly distinct vocalization.

 

[diaglo]

majick

 

[Henry]

I say, "DWEE-mer", and have since reading Greyhawk: Saga of Old City by Gary Gygax.

(paraphrasing)
Dwarf: Zis dagger has a dveemer zat makes it...
Gord: Excuse me?
Dwarf: A dvee-mer zat makes it...
Gord: A what?
Dwarf: A DVEE-MER! Uhnd Enchantment!


So I'm guessing gary says "DWEE-mer", and that's how I've used it.

 

[Wyrm Pilot]

You don't have an option on the poll for "Other" -- I pronounce it "Throatwarbler Mangrove."

No, I really pronounce it "dwee-oh-mer" under the exceedingly rare circumstance that I actually say it.

Cheers,
Wyrm Pilot
____________________

I believe that we should let all foreigners into our country, provided that they speak our native language: Apache.
-- Stephen Glenn Martin

 

[Huw]

"Dwimmer" was the Old English. "Dweomer" the earlier Saxon. The "dw" really represents a sound no longer found in English. So if you pronounce it as "d eliding (kind of like sliding but not really) into w" you're not even close enough for horseshoes and handgrenades. The "e" modifies the previous sound, with the "o" being the next truly distinct vocalization.

I had to read this three times to get it, and I know what he's talking about! (sorry, mythusmage)

Translation: There's an Old English diphthong using a vowel no longer in English. The sequence "weo" is an approximation of that diphthong.

Addenda: Another alternative spelling is "demer". An alternative meaning is "juggling". The etymology is unknown (possibly, but unlikely, related to "dim" - in the sense of hidden). Like it or not, modern readers will pronounce the "dw" as "dw" (even me, and I'm a language pedant - actually, I'll just say "magic").