An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/schwelgen

by Friedrich Kluge

schwelgen, verb ‘to guzzle, carouse, revel,’ from Middle High German swëlgen, swëlhen, ‘to swallow, gulp down, drink,’ Old High German swëlgan, swëlahan, ‘to swallow, gulp down’; compare Old Saxon far-swëlgan, ‘to gulp down,’ Dutch zwelgen, ‘to swallow,’ zwelg, ‘draught,’ Anglo-Saxon swëlgan, English to swallow, Old Icelandic svelgja, ‘to swallow’; Gothic *swilhan is wanting. A Teutonic root. swëlh (swëlg by grammatical change), from pre-Teutonic swelk, is not found elsewhere. See Schwalch.