wergeld

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Wikipedia

Contents 1 English 1.1 Alternative spellings 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Translations 1.4 References

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative spellings

• weregeld
• weregild
• wergild

[edit] Etymology

Middle English wergeld, from Old English wergeld, compound of wer (“‘man’”), + geld (“‘payment’”).

[edit] Noun

wergeld (plural wergelds)

1. (archaic) In Anglo-Saxon and continental Germanic customary law, a reparative payment, usually demanded by the surviving kindred of a person guilty of homicide, according to the victim's rank.
2. (paganism) recompense. In current usage in Heathenry.

   The wergild she wants is a night with Balder, to beget his child, but he refuses. (Winifred Hodge)

[edit] Translations

• Dutch: weergeld n.

[edit] References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967