Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

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HELM

  • noun [ masculine ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
HELM, es; m.
Wright's OE grammar
§80; §276; §282; §335;
a
HELM, helmet
Show examples

  • Leðer helm

    galea

    :

    íren helm

    cassis,

    • Ælfc. Gl. 51; Som. 66, 13, 14; Wrt. Voc. 35, 3, 4.

  • Helmes camb

    crista

    :

    helmes býge

    conus,

    • 53; Som. 66, 76, 77; Wrt. Voc. 36, 2, 3.

  • Se hwíta, hearda helm,

    • Beo. Th. 2900, 4502; B. 1448, 2255.
a crown, the top, overshadowing foliage of trees
Show examples

  • Helm

    corona,

    • Wrt. Voc. 64, 39.

  • Mid þyrnenum helme his heáfod be-féngon

    encircled his head with a crown of thorns,

    • Homl. Th. ii. 252, 26; Mk. Skt. 15, 17.

  • Ful oft unc holt wrugon wudubeáma helm

    full oft the wood covered us the shady top of the forest trees,

    • Exon. 129 a; Th. 496, 2; Rä. 85, 8.

  • Ðæt se stemn and se helm móte ðý fæstor and ðý leng standon

    that the stem and top may stand the foster and longer,

    • Bt. 34, 10; Fox 148, 33
      • :
    • Fox 150, 3.

  • Hire hyrdeman sume ás ástáh and his orf læswode mid treowenum helme

    her herdsman had ascended an oak and was feeding his cattle with its woody crown,

    • Homl. Th. ii. 150, 31.

  • Forðæm se þorn ðære gítsunga ne wyrþ forsearod on ðæm helme gif se wyrttruma ne biþ færcorfen oððe forbærned æt ðæm stemne

    si enim radix culpæ in ipsa effusione non exuritur, numquam per ramos exuberans avaritiæ spina siccatur,

    • Past. 45, 3; Swt. 341, l0
      • :
    • Runic pm. 18; Kmbl. 342, 31; Hick, Thes. i. 135.
a covering [in this sense the word is preserved in some dialects. Thus in
  • Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Glossaries, English Dial. Soc. vols. ii. v. vi
, helm, a hovel, an open shed for cattle, a shed built on posts]
Show examples

  • Wǽges helm [holm?]

    the covering made by the wave, the sea,

    • Elen. Kmbl. 459; El. 230.

  • Under lyfte helm

    under the air's covering,

    • Exon. 102 a; Th. 386, 19; Rä. 4, 64.

  • Helme gedýgled

    concealed with a covering,

    • 1226; Th. 470, 10; Hy. 11, 33.
in poetry the word is applied to persons, thus God and Christ are spoken of as æþelinga, hæleþa, háligra, duguþa, dryhtfolca, engla, grásta, heofona, heofonríces, wuldres helm and helm wera, ælwihta. Similar phrases occur in speaking of earthly rulers, æþelinga, heriga, lidmanna, wedra, weoruda helm and helm Scyldinga, Scylfinga.
Etymology
[
Goth. hilms a helmet
:
O. Sax. helm
:
Icel. hjálmr
:
O. H. Ger. helm, galea, cassis
:
Ger. helm
.]
Derived forms
bán-, grím-, gúþ-, hæleþ-, heaþu-, heoloþ-, lyft-, mist-, niht-, sceadu-, sund-, wæter-helm
Linked entries
v.  helmiht.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “HELM.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/18674.

Checked: 1
Full form

Word-wheel

  • HELM, n.

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