Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

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hættian

  • verb [ weak ]
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Grammar
hættian, p. ode; pp. od
To take the hair and skin from a person's head
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  • Ðonne dó man út his eágan and ceorfan of his nóse and eáran and uferan lippan oððe hine hættian

    then let his eyes be put out and his nose and ears and upper lip be cut off; or let him have the hair and skin of his head pulled off,

    • L. C. S. 30
      • ;
    • Th. i. 394, 14
      • .
    [The Latin version here has 'aut corium capitis cum capillis (auferatur) quod Angli vocant behættie :' Another translation has 'vel decapilletur.']

  • Sume man hættode,

    • Chr. 1036
      • ;
    • Ed. 164, 39
      • .
In the note Earle quotes Florence of Worcester 'cute capitis abstracta.' Cf. Grmm. R. A. 703, where he quotes an explanation of the punishment by which the hair was dragged from a person's head, 'man windet im die haar mit einer kluppen oder knebel aus dem heupt.' He thinks the form hettian [hættian] has no sense, but may it not be connected with hæt, as it was just that part of the head which the hat covered that was affected? It was giving the victim the appearance of wearing a hat of a most ghastly kind.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “hættian.” 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/17993.

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  • hættian, v.

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