Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

Dictionary online

heáfod-weard

  • noun [ feminine ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
heáfod-weard, e; f.
A guarding of the [lord's] head, attendance as a guard upon the king. The word occurs in an enumeration of the services required of the thane and the 'geneat,'
  • Th. i. 432, 8, 17
  • .
So in Beowulf it is said of Wiglaf that he 'healdeþ heáfodwearde,' keeps guard over the dead king,
  • Beo. Th. 5811
  • ;
  • B. 2909
  • .
Etymology
[Cf.
Icel. höfuðvörðr a body-guard
.]
Full form

Word-wheel

  • heáfod-weard, n.