Lǽn

According to the Old English Dictionary:

lán [

lǽn

lǽn-land], e; f. I. a loan, grant, gift :-- Lǽn commodum, Ælfc. Gl, 14; Som. 58, 5; Wrt. Voc. 21, 1. Lǽn commodum, lucrum, Wrt. Voc. ii. 132, 1 : depositum i. e. commendatum, 139, 1. Borg vel lǽn fenus i. e. lucrum, usura, 148, 24. Tó hwíle lǽn momentum, Ælfc. Gl. 15; Som. 58, 47; Wrt. Voc. 21, 36. Ðæt hridder tóbærst on ðære lǽne. Seó fóstormódor weóp for ðære áwyrdan lǽne the sieve broke in two during the loan. The foster-mother wept for the injured loan, Homl. Th. ii. 154, 16. Sum man sceolde ágyldan healf pund and wæs ðearle geswenct for ðære lǽne a certain man had to pay back half a pound, and was exceedingly harassed on account of the loan, 176, 35. Hé tó ðære lǽne fácn ne wiste he knew of no ill-design in the loan [of arms], L. Alf. pol. 19; Th. i. 74, 7. Se ðe æt his néhstan hwæt tó lǽne ábit qui a proximo suo quidquid mutuo postulaverit, Ex. 22, 14. Ðé biddaþ manega þeóda ðínes þinges tó lǽne and ðú ne bitst nánne fænerabis multis gentibus, et ipse a nullo fænus accipiens, Deut. 28, 12. Tó lǽne syllan mutuum dare, 15, 8. Tó lǽne beón to be lent, Past. pref; Swt. 9, 7. Lǽne syllaþ mutuum date, Lk. Skt. 6, 35. Ðá meahte heó wíde geseón þurh ðæs láðan lǽn then could she widely see through the fiend's gift, Cd. 29; Th. 38, 3; Gen. 601. Lǽn Godes, ælmihtiges gife, 32; Th. 43, 18; Gen. 692. Ðeáh hé him nánra óðerra lǽna [but Cott. MS. leana] ne wéne though he expect no other benefits, Bt. 24, 3; Fox 84, 1. II. [in connection with land] a grant that may be recalled, lease, fee, fief :-- Landes lǽn precarium, Ælfc. Gl. 14; Som. 58, 6; Wrt. Voc. 21, 2. Mon gerehte ðæt yrfe cinge forðon hé wæs cinges mon and Ordláf féng tó his londe forðon hit wæs his lǽn ðæt hé onsǽte hé ne meahte ná his forwyrcan the property went to the king because he [Helmstan] was the king's man; and Ordlaf took the land, for the land that he [Helmstan] occupied was held in fee from Ordlaf, so he [Helmstan] could not forfeit it, Chart. Th. 173, 4. v. Cod. Dip. Kmbl. i. lix. Ðá oferbád Ælféh his bróðor and féng tó his lǽne [cf. geúðe hé him &c. 9-12] then Ælfeh survived his brother, and resumed the lands he had granted to him; mortuo Ælfrico Ælfegus statim omnia præstita sua, quæ fratri suo viventi præstiterat [resumpsit], 272, 13, 21. Ǽlcne man lyst siððan hé ǽnig cotlýf on his hláfordes lǽne getimbred hæfþ ðæt hé hine móte hwílum ðar on gerestan and his on gehwilce wísan tó ðære lǽnan [is this a form lǽne, an; f. = lǽn, or can it be the adj. lǽne transitory, as the opposite of which ǽce occurs afterwards, with the noun that it qualifies omitted?] tilian óþ ðone fyrst ðe hé bócland and ǽce yrfe geearnige every man, after he has built any cottage on land granted him by his lord, desires that he may rest himself therein at times, and in some fashion provide for himself from the grant [?], until the time that he has gained a freehold and a perpetual possession, Shrn. 164, 2-8. Æþelwald and Alhmund his sunu hit woldon habban on his lǽne and hína Ethelwald and his son Alhmund would hold it [certain land] of him [the bishop] and of the convent in fee, Chart. Th. 140, 32. Denewulf bisceop and ða hýwan on Wintanceastre ænlǽnaþ Ælfréde his deg xl hída landes æt Alresforda æfter ðære lǽna ðe Túnbryht bisceop ǽr álénde his yldran bishop Denewulf and the convent at Winchester lease to Alfred for his life xl hides of land at Alresford, according to the lease that Tunbryht granted before to his parents, 147, 29. [O. E. Hom. se riche lane as beoð þeos sustren, i. 257, 22 : A. R. Ayenb. lone what is lent : Piers P. lone, loone, lene. The double form of the word in later English may be partly owing to Scandinavian influence. Icelandic has both lén; n. a fief, fee, grant, and lán; n. (though an older feminine is indicated) a loan, fief. O. Frs. lén; n. a grant, fee, fief: O. H. Ger. léhan; n. fænus, beneficium, usura, præstatio : Ger. lehen; n. fief, fee.] v. Kemble's Saxons in England, i. 310. læn

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