Beorhthelm

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A shining helmet, a poetic term from Old English verse for armour that gleams brightly in battle
2. An archaic word from early English poetry describing a helmet that glows or flashes with light
3. Old English poetic term for a gleaming protective headpiece worn by a warrior in combat

Etymology: Old English poets often built compounds by fusing two plain words into one picture. "Beorht" meant bright or shining, and "helm" meant helmet or protective covering, so this compound names a helmet that catches the light. Modern English "bright" descends from the same adjective. The same root survives in German, where "hell" means bright, not the underworld. English "hell" comes from a different Old English word, meaning a concealed place, and is related to "helan," to hide. A German speaker describing a sunny room uses the sense that an Anglo-Saxon poet once put into a shining helmet.