wæron

Wæron is an Old English verb form that means “were.” It is the past tense plural of the verb to be (wesan/beon) in Early English and serves as the key plural past indicative of the copula.

In Old English, the verb to be is irregular. The singular past tense is wæs, used with I, you (singular), and he/she/it, while the plural past tense form is wæron, used with we, you (plural), and they. Thus wæron functions as the standard past-tense form for plural subjects in clauses of existence, state, or predicate.

Wæron occurs across Old English literature, including poetry and prose. It appears in historical narratives, hagiography, and other genres, where the past tense of be is needed to set scenes, describe conditions, or relate events. In earlier manuscripts, it is sometimes rendered in modern editions as wǣron to reflect vowel length.

Etymology and cognates: Wæron derives from the same Proto-Germanic root that underlies similar forms in other Germanic languages. It is cognate with Old High German warun and the modern German waren and Dutch waren, all of which reflect a shared heritage for the verb “to be.”

Modern use: In contemporary English, the form wæron is obsolete; the modern equivalent is were. In scholarly editions of Old English, the form is typically presented as wæron (or wǣron) to indicate pronunciation, with glosses noting its meaning as “were.”