Information AboutWeregild |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT WEREGILD | |
| anglo-saxon law | |
| punishments | |
| germanic paganism | |
| viking age | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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OVERVIEW The payment of weregild was an important legal mechanism in early northern European societies, such as those of the Vikings , and Anglo-Saxons ; the other common form of legal reparation at this time was blood revenge. The payment was typically made to the family or to the clan. The word means, literally, "man price". If these payments were not made, or refused by the offended party, a blood feud would ensue. The size of the weregild in cases of Murder was largely conditional upon the social rank of the victim. Thrall s and Slaves technically commanded no weregild, but it was commonplace to make a nominal payment in the case of a thrall and the value of the slave in such a case. A classic example of a dispute over the wergild of a slave is contained in Egil's Saga . Weregild was also known to the . ETYMOLOGY The word ''weregild'' is comprised of ''were'', a word meaning "man" (as in '' Werewolf '') and ''geld'', meaning "payment." Etymologically, ''were'' is related to the Latin ''vir'', and the modern German ''Wehr'', as in ''sich zur Wehr setzen'', or "to give resistance". Thus the root has come to indicate proper attributes of man, or ''virility'', rather than a man per se. ''Geld'' is of course the root of English ''gilt'' and is still the Dutch and German word for money. SEE ALSO |