World Wide Words

At his first appearance in the poem, the title character of Beowulf is confronted by a Danish guard who demands to know why foreign warriors have landed on his coast. Though the Geats, Beowulf's people, have come as allies, they are quite obviously dressed for war, and the question calls for a careful reply. The poet says of Beowulf, "wordhord unleac" that is, "he unlocked his word-hoard." The imagery of a man turning valuable words over in his mind like gems, taking care to choose the one most suitable to present for the occasion is quite striking.
"Word-hoard" came readily to mind when I ran across an English site called World Wide Words a couple of days ago. It is an etymological treasure-trove if ever there was one. If you have ever wondered just where a word like snickersnee came from, you can set your mind at rest there. If you haven't heard enough legends about the origins of gringo, World Wide Words might give you satisfaction, if not complete satiety. If you have ever read The Hobbit, thereby going around for days with "Attercop! Attercop! Down you drop!" stuck in your head, it may give you solace to know that, at least, attercop is a real word. The entries are generous, not merely offering a plausible history or an accepted definition (or two, or three) but presenting a good deal of evidence as to why one version of a word's origin may be more likely than another.
Read it.