What is the correct pronunciation of Hele?

I’ve always wondered what the correct or considered correct pronunciation of the old Saxon word hele is. The Oxford English Dictionary states it should be pronounced as /hiːl/ and that’s what I’ve always used –

hele

Pronunciation: /hiːl/

To hide, conceal; to keep secret.

I’ve also heard it pronounced as /heɪl/ and whenever I’ve questioned that pronunciation, I’ve always been told that it is correct or that is the preferred way of pronunciation.

So which is it /hiːl/ or /heɪl/?

Answer

It depends really on whether you're using it as a Modern English word or as an Old English word.

OE pronunciation would have been /helə/, which would probably be realized in casual use by modern students of OE as /heɪlə/; so if one of these gets snotty with you you may correct his pronunciation to one with a short e and a schwa ending.

And then you may explain that you are not employing the OE verb helan (make sure you include the infinitive ending to put your interlocutor more firmly in his place) but the ModE dialect verb hele, which has undergone the ME Great Vowel Shift and loss of ending and is accordingly pronounced, as the OED tells us, /hiːl/.