Definition of "befal"

Another misfortune which befel poor Sophia was the company of Lord Fellamar, whom she met at the opera, and who attended her to the drum.

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

[…] they parted, with a very earnest assurance on her side of her unceasing good wishes for his happiness in every change of situation that might befal him; […]

1811, [Jane Austen], chapter IV, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume III, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], page 84

He promised to communicate with me, when anything befel him; and he slung his bag about him, took his hat and stick, and bade us both “Good bye!”

1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, “The Beginning of a long Journey”, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, page 334

I only hoped that whatever was to befal me might soon be over, for the tension of nerve was growing more than I could bear.

1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Grey Woman