aesteln.

Etymology: Of uncertain origin: perhaps (i) < a specific use of classical Latin hastula, a small spear (diminutive of hasta : see hastal adj.); or perhaps (ii) < a specific use of post-classical Latin astella splinter, chip (see astel n. and compare astyllen n.). Perhaps compare Early Irish astal , of uncertain sense, probably ‘chip, splinter, sliver’, perhaps also ‘bookmark’ or ‘pointer’ ( < Latin). Perhaps compare astel n. (ultimately < Latin via French). Old English uses. The sense of the word in Old English is uncertain and disputed. The items mentioned by Ælfred (see quot. eOE) must have been suitable, by shape, weight and function, to be included with a manuscript. The particular artefacts included by Ælfred with copies of the translation of the Pastoral Care are stated to have been of a very high value (fifty mancuses each). The item mentioned by Ælfric (see quot. OE) appears to be something a monastery could be expected to be equipped with, but nothing further than that can be deduced from the context. The post-classical Latin word indicatorium the word translates is uncertain in sense, but clearly denotes a thing related to pointing (compare indicatory adj.). The only other attestation of indicatorium is in a thirteenth-century gloss to a manuscript of the translation of the Pastoral Care, where it also glosses æstel . The glossator equates both æstel and indicatorium with classical Latin festūca stalk, straw, in post-classical Latin also splinter, but the precise interpretation intended is uncertain. Later use. Revived in the 18th cent. in historical use, originally in disputes about the sense of the word as used by Ælfred. (The word had apparently previously been mistaken as a form of style n.) Since the second half of the 18th cent. the aestels mentioned by Ælfred have been frequently connected with the Alfred Jewel, a late Anglo-Saxon artefact of enamel, gold, and rock crystal, of uncertain function, usually interpreted as made for Ælfred, as a man of that name is named in the maker's inscription. This is now frequently interpreted as the ornamented terminal of a pointer. The word aestel is hence also applied to archaeological artefacts similar to the Alfred Jewel.