Does beware exist as anything other than an imperative?

[conuly]

I bewore the dog? I waswore the dog? I wasware the dog? I bewared the dog?

Comments

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

I think its a contraction from when old english was used.
It has that-- flavour(synaesthesia makes dialects & things have different flavours for me & I don't know what someone else might call it)
.
Perhaps it was "be 'ware of", originally.

I have, indeed, seen 'be wary of' but I think it was a scots/irish dialect thing.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a good possibility. That it comes from "be aware of" not "be wary of" - definitely possible.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

i guess that makes sense, but then, why is beware always used as a warning, ya know? Like, one would say, "be aware of the time" and not beware of the time, whereas one would say "Be wary of the dog" as "Beware of the dog."

I have known my dear connie way to damned long. *pout*