The story
- Middle English · inherited fromdrinc hail
- English todaydrink hail
From Middle English drinc hail, drinchail, drinc-hæil, drincheheil, dringhail, drinkel, drink hail, drinkhail, drynkehaile, drynkeheil, drynk hayl, drynkheil, probably an Old Norse phrase; compare Old Icelandic far heill (“farewell!”), com heill (“welcome!”). Roughly translated to me "commence guzzling".
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.