English Language & Usage Asked on April 3, 2021
It looks like hegh-stald meaning virgin. It’s also spelled hægsteald, with the etymology reported by Revealing Words as:
the sense slips from Germanic roots of hag as enclosure or fence + steald as settlement or dwelling, to suppositions about a dependant young warrior or household retainer, hence unmarried and without his own household, to novice (tiro) and on to the religiously inflected celibate, and virginity.
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Correct answer by Laurel on April 3, 2021
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