O.E.
wrecca "wretch, stranger, exile," from P.Gmc.
*wrakjan (cf. O.S.
wrekkio, O.H.G.
reckeo "a banished person, exile," Ger.
recke "renowned warrior, hero"), related to O.E.
wreccan "to drive out, punish" (see
wreak). Sense of "vile, despicable person" developed in O.E., reflecting the sorry state of the outcast, as presented in much of Anglo-Saxon verse (e.g. "The Wanderer"). A Ger. word for "misery" is
Elend, from O.H.G.
elilenti "sojourn in a foreign land, exile."
[rech] 
