Entertainment / Literature / Wergild: The legal system of many Germanic tribes, including the Anglo-Saxons. This tradition allowed an individual and his family to make amends for a crime by paying a fine known as wergild to the family of another man whom he had injured or killed. The price varied depending upon the nature of the injury and the status of the injured man. Surviving laws of Wihtfrid (8th century CE) show how elaborate the wergild system had become by the ninth century. Wihtfrid included a varying price in silver for each tooth knocked out during a fight. If an individual could not or would not pay the wergild, the injured family was considered within its traditional rights to kill a member of the culprit's family of similar rank and status. This process often led to extended blood-feuds lasting several generations. The concerns of wergild appear prominently in Anglo-Saxon poems such as Beowulf, in which the supernatural predations of the monsters are figured in the legalistic language associated with this practice. See also peace-weaver. (Anglo-Saxon, lit. 'man-gold,' also spelled wergeld)
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Entertainment / Literature / Wergeld: An alternative spelling for wergild. See wergild, below. MORE
Entertainment / Literature / Danegeld: The practice of paying extortion money to Vikings to make them go away, often associated in particular with the Anglo-Saxon king 'Aethelred Unraed.' His nickname means 'Aethelred the Unready,' or more MORE
Entertainment / Literature / Blood-Feud: (OE fae???†?€?u) The custom among certain Germanic tribes like the Anglo-Saxons or the Vikings of seeking vengeance against another tribe or family if a member of that tribe or family injured or k MORE