The Scotto Grotto (org)

I learned from my Icelandic friend this morning that the “war” in warlock is unrelated to the word “war,” but that it means “pledge” or “oath.”  So a warlock is an oath-lock, or oath-bound.  But also, this old Germanic word, *waera*, which is the source for both, became negative in English, connected to heathenry, while in modern Icelandic, *væra* means “innocent” or “cuddly,” so “cuddle-lock” or, as he put it, “the Snugglebound.”