Why “sweven” is a great word
SWEVEN — [Noun] A dream or vision, especially one of a prophetic or significant nature. From Middle English sweven, from Old English swefn ("sleep, dream, vision"), from Proto-West Germanic *swefn, from Proto-Germanic *swefną ("sleep"), from Proto-Indo-European *swépnos ("dream"), from the root *swep- ("to sleep"). Unlike "dream" (a general, common term for the nightly procession of images) or "reverie" (a pleasant, waking abstraction), a sweven is a visitation freighted with archaic purpose. It is the king-startling prophecy before battle, the lover's face seen clearly across a continent of night, or the cryptic tableau that unravels only with the season's turn—a fragile truth dispatched from the kingdom of sleep, too urgent to be forgotten.
Etymology
From Middle English sweven, from Old English swefn (“sleep, dream, vision”), from Proto-West Germanic *swefn, from Proto-Germanic *swefną, *swefnaz (“sleep”), from Proto-Indo-European *swépnos, *supnós (“dream”), from Proto-Indo-European *swep- (“to sleep”).
Cognate with Dutch suf (“drowsy”), Middle High German swēb (“sleep”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål søvn (“sleep”), Faroese svøvnur (“sleep”), Icelandic svefn, svöfn (“sleep; dream”), Norwegian Nynorsk svebn, svemn, svevn, svøbn, svømn, sømn, søvn (“sleep”), Swedish sömn (“sleep”), Latin somnus (“sleep, slumber, drowsiness”), Sanskrit स्वप्न (svápna, “sleep; dream”), Ancient Greek ὕπνος (húpnos, “sleep”).