glee-beam

plural glee-beams · alternative gleebeam

1. historicalAnglo-Saxon; kenning; Anglo-Saxon; kenningentertainmentA harp.

   "[…] So we do him service gladly, thronging round our noble king, While the glee-beams at the banquet with the Scêfing's praises ring."

   1895, Mary Louisa Georgina Petrie Carus-Wilson, Tokiwa and Other Poems, page 120

   3 more examples

   The king's scop or earl's gleeman, was the favourite of the court; the one indispensable guest at every banquet and every courtly gathering; whose skill with the glee-beam or harp spread joy throughout the festive hall, and whose memory was stored with soul-stirring tales of great deeds, the recital of which could not fail to fire the hearts and quicken the pulses of young and old alike.

   1896, Stephen Humphreys Villiers Gurteen, The Epic of the Fall of Man

   That man may sing and declare many things. A marvel of wisdom is hidden in his heart. Another with his fingers may loudly strike the harp, stir the glee-beam for the joy of his companions.

   1919, The Wellesley Alumnae Quarterly, volume 4, page 166

   “Then there will we abide. Long have we wayfared, and wearied am I by the journey. Though the priests may not hearken to song, or story, or glee-beam, yet will they shelter us for the night.”

   1923, Lucy Foster Madison, A Maid at King Alfred's Court