HELM

m. I. a HELM, helmet :-- 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. II. a crown, the top, overshadowing foliage of trees :-- 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. III. a covering [in this sense the word is preserved in some dialects. Thus in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Glossaries, English Dial. Soc. vols. ii. helm, a hovel, an open shed for cattle, a shed built on posts] :-- 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. IV. 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. [Goth. hilms a helmet: O. Sax. helm: Icel. hjálmr: O. H. Ger. helm, galea, cassis: Ger. helm.] DER. bán-, grím-, gúþ-, hæleþ-, heaþu-, heoloþ-, lyft-, mist-, niht-, sceadu-, sund-, wæter-helm. helm