Weregild
Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price (Blood money (restitution), blood money), was a precept in some historical legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, to be paid as a Composition (fine), fine or as Damages, compensatory damages to the person's family if that person was killed or injured by another. Etymology and terminology The compound noun weregild means "remuneration for a man", from Proto-Germanic "man, human" and "retaliation, remuneration". In the south Germanic area, this is the most common term used to mean "payment for killing a man" (Old High German , Langobardic , Old English ), whereas in the North Germanic area, the more common term is Old Norse , with the same meaning. Wolfgang Haubrichs argues that wergild is "undoubtably a West Germanic word" which spread throughout the various Germanic-speaking peoples, but which in the north was replaced w ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]