That is, ἄβαλεν is a variant of ἔβαλεν , ("he/she/it threw"), the aorist form of βάλλω .
This explanation agrees with Photius (alpha26), who distinguishes ἄβαλεν (as a variant for ἔβαλεν ) from ἀβάλε (or ἆ βάλε ) = εἴθε ; cf. alpha 13. The latter form, with the different accent, begins with the epitatic alpha (LSJ 'a-' III); it introduces a prayer or wish colored by regret (cf. βάλε δή, βάλε , Alcman fr. 111 PMG) in the same way as εἴθε (Apollonius Sophistes, Lexicon Homericum 2.15 and Herodian, Partitiones p.254.5; cf. Etym. Gudian. Alpha p.2 ; Etym. Genuin. beta23; and Byzantine writers, who use it regularly to mean "alas for…", e.g. Timarion 64). It is used in fragment 619 of Callimachus in a negative wish for past time ἀβάλε μηδ' ἀβόλησα , "Would that I had never met him!" Most entries in the ancient lexica explain this form.