hwæþer
hwæþer is an Old English conjunction and pronoun with the sense of “whether” or “which of two.” In medieval texts it functions to introduce alternatives or to mark a conditional choice, and it commonly appears in paired constructions such as hwæþer … oþþe …, meaning “whether … or ….” The form is found across various Old English dialects, principally in the 9th to 11th centuries, and occurs in prose and poetry both in West Saxon and other dialects.
Orthography and attestation: Spelling variants include hwæþer and its later-medieval reflexes such as hwæðer, reflecting scribal
Etymology: The exact origin of hwæþer is a subject of debate. It is generally thought to be
Modern language and scholarship: hwæþer is obsolete in Modern English, but it is a standard item in
See also: Old English grammar; Interrogatives and relative pronouns in Old English; Conjunctions in Old English;