gift hall en · NOUN
Etymology
Calque of Old English gifheall, from gif (“gift”) + heall (“hall”).
Meanings
-
A large communal building used in early Germanic and Norse societies as a place where valuable gifts were distributed to loyal warriors, thanes, retainers, etc.
Then morning came and many a warrior gathered,as I've heard, around the gift-hall, clan chiefs flocking from far and near[.]
1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 27:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| gift halls | Number=Plur | lexicographic |