ETYMOLOGY
from Old English hamelian (to mutilate);
from an adjective appearing on Old High German as hamal (maimed, mutilated), whence mod.German hammel (a castrated sheep)
EXAMPLE
“…sume hi man bende, sume hi man blende,
sume man hamelode and sume heanlice hattode…”
(…Some did they bind, some did they blind,
Some did they hamstring, some did they scalp…)
From: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Lexicophilia 