View source for Weregild

{{Short description|Paid in atonement for blood guilt}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2019}}
[[File:Cpg164 0035 wergild.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Image of a murder by a minor and the subsequent paying of wergild, in Heidelberger [[Sachsenspiegel]] Cgm 165 fol. 11r. This is one of the only images of wergild payment from the Middle Ages.{{sfn|Esders|2021|p=1}}]]

'''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 tradition in [[Germanic law]] 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]] {{lang|gem-x-proto|*wira-}} "man, human" and {{lang|gem-x-proto|*geld-a-}} "retaliation, remuneration".{{sfn|Haubrichs|2021|p=94}} In the southern Germanic areas, this is the most common term used to mean "payment for killing a man" (Old High German {{lang|goh|werigelt}}, Langobardic {{lang|lng|wergelt}}, Old English {{lang|ang|wer(e)gild}}), whereas in the North Germanic areas, the more common term is [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|mangæld}}, with the same meaning.{{sfn|Schmidt-Wiegand|2010e|pp=914-915}}{{sfn|Haubrichs|2021|p=94}} 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 with {{lang|non|mangæld}} since the meaning of the element "wer-" had been forgotten; comparable replacement words such as {{lang|lng|wider-geld}} ("repayment") are known from the south.{{sfn|Haubrichs|2021|p=107}}

Several alternative terms are also found, such as {{lang|la|leodis}} ("man") and {{lang|la|leodardi}} ("violation of a man") in the [[Lex Salica]],{{sfn|Haubrichs|2021|pp=96-99}} and the short from {{lang|ang|wer(e)}} in Old English.{{sfn|Schmidt-Wiegand|2010e|p=915}} Both of these terms appear to derive from a word meaning the subject harmed, with a shift to meaning the payment for that harm.{{sfn|Haubrichs|2021|pp=107-108}}

== Overview ==
A weregild or wergeld was a defined value placed on every man graded according to rank, used as a basis of a fine or compensation for murder, disablement, injury, and certain other serious crimes against that person. It was assessed from the guilty party, payable as [[restitution]] to the victim's family.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Weregild dictionary.reference.com], retrieved 2011-02-06</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=weregild |work=OED |url=http://oed.com/view/Entry/227849?redirectedFrom=Weregild# |url-access=subscription|access-date=2011-02-06}}. Quoted in {{citation|last=Elster  |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Elster |title=Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2chPzq9HNNcC&pg=PA166 |page=166|isbn=9780521548540 }}</ref>

The weregild was codified, for example, under [[Francia|Frankish]] [[Salic Law|Salic Code]].<ref>{{citation|last=Loyd |first=William H. |author-link=<!--William H. Loyd--> |title=Executions at Common Law |journal=University of Pennsylvania Law Review |volume=62 |year=1914 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xCwZ9SOL518C&pg=PA355 |page=355<!--354–368-->}}</ref>

Weregild payment was an important legal mechanism in early [[Germanic society]]; the other common form of legal reparation at this time was [[Feud#Blood feuds/vendetta|blood revenge]]. The payment was typically made to the [[family]] or to the [[sibb|clan]]. Similar to the way a payment was made to family, it was also a family's or kin group's responsibility to ensure the payment for the wrong committed, especially if the offender is unable to cover the cost of the offense himself.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brown|first=Warren C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFHJAwAAQBAJ&q=Violence+among+the+early+franks&pg=PA33|title=Violence in Medieval Europe|date=2014-06-11|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-86621-3|language=en}}</ref>

No distinction was made between [[murder]] and [[manslaughter]] until these distinctions were instituted by the re-introduction of [[Roman law]] in the [[12th century]].<ref>John Fosberry (translator {{clarify|date=March 2014}}), ''Criminal Justice through the Ages''. Mittalalterliches Kriminalmuseum, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (1990 {{abbr|Eng.|English}} {{abbr|trans.|translation}} 1993), p. 49, pp. 99-101.</ref>

Payment of the weregild was gradually replaced with [[capital punishment]] due to [[Christianization]], starting around the [[9th century]], and almost entirely by the 12th century when weregild began to cease as a practice throughout the [[Holy Roman Empire]].<ref>Fosberry, pp. 48-52.</ref>

Weregild from ''[[Norðleoda Laga]]'':<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitelock |first1=Dorothy |title=English Historical Documents, 500-1042 |date=1996 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-14366-0 |page=477 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gLpQFeVfpuYC |access-date=30 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Rank !! [[Thrymsa]]
|-
| King || 30,000
|-
| Archbishop/[[aetheling]] || 15,000
|-
| Bishop/[[ealdorman]] || 8,000
|-
| [[Hold (title)|Hold]]/[[high-reeve]]|| 4,000
|-
| Mass-[[thegn]]/secular thegn ||  2,000
|-
| Prospering [[Churl|ceorl]] || 2,000
|-
| Ceorl || 200
|-
| Prospering Welshman || 120s
|-
| Non-prospering Welshman || 80s
|-
| Landless Welshman || 70s
|}

==Origins==
Wergild first appears in the European historical record in 500 AD in the ''[[Lex Burgundionum]]'',{{sfn|Esders|2021|p=3}} but the concept of paying blood-money is found widely in many pre-modern societies.{{sfn|Esders|2021|p=6}} Scholars debate if wergild was a traditional [[Germanic law|Germanic legal concept]], or if it developed from a [[Roman law|Roman predecessor]].{{sfn|Schmidt-Wiegand|2010e|pp=922-923}} Christophe Gamby argued in 2013 that the entire institution was essentially derived from Roman law, whereas Harald Siems and Ralph Mathisen both rejected this concept in 2021, arguing that nothing comparable existed in Roman Law.{{sfn|Esders|2021|p=15}} However, Siems and Mathisen both argue that Roman law still influenced the definitions of crimes and possibly legal procedures in the "barbarian law codes" that first contain wergild.{{sfn|Esders|2021|pp=15-16}}

== Amount ==

The size of the weregild was largely conditional upon the [[social rank]] of the victim. There used to be something of a "basis" fee for a standard "free man" that could then be multiplied according to the social rank of the victim and the circumstances of the crime. The weregild for women relative to that of men of equal rank varied: among the [[Saxons]] half that of men.

In the [[Migration period]], the standard weregild for a freeman appears to have been 200 [[Solidus (coin)|solidi]] ([[shilling]]s), an amount reflected as the basic fee due for the death of a ''[[churl]]'' (or ''ceorl'') both in later Anglo-Saxon and continental law codes.

In the 8th century, the ''[[Lex Alamannorum]]'' sets the weregild for a duke or archbishop at three times the basic fee (600 shillings), while the killing of a low ranking cleric was fined with 300, raised to 400 if the cleric was attacked while he was reading mass.

During the reign of [[Charlemagne]], his ''[[missi dominici]]'' required three times the regular weregild should they be killed whilst on a mission from the king.

In 9th century [[Mercia]]n law a regular freeman ([[churl]]) was worth 200 shillings<ref>A shilling was defined as the value of a cow in Kent or elsewhere, a sheep.</ref> (''twyhyndeman''), and a nobleman was worth 1,200 (''twelfhyndeman''), a division established enough that two centuries later a [[Old English#Charter of Cnut|charter]] of [[King Cnut]]'s would simply refer to "all his people - the twelve-hundreders and the two-hundreders". The law code even mentions the weregild for a king, at 30,000 thrymsas, composed of 15,000 for the man, paid to the royal family, and 15,000 for the kingship, paid to the people. An archbishop or nobleman is likewise valued at 15,000 [[thrymsa]]s. The weregild for a Welshman was 120 [[shilling]]s if he owned at least one [[Hide (unit)|hide]] of land and was able to pay the king's tribute. If he has only 1 hide and cannot pay the tribute, his wergild was 80 shillings and then 70 if he was landless yet free.

[[Thrall]]s and [[slaves]] legally 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. Technically this amount cannot be called a weregild, because it was more akin to a reimbursement to the owner for lost or damaged property.

==In literature==
===Medieval===
A classic example of a dispute over the weregild of a slave is contained in Iceland's ''[[Egil's Saga]]''.

In the [[Völsunga saga]] or Saga of the Volsungs, the [[Æsir]] ([[Odin]], [[Loki]] and [[Hœnir]]) are asked to pay weregild for killing [[Ótr|Otr]], son of [[Hreidmar]]. Otr is a "great fisherman"  and resembles an otter. He is 'eating a salmon and half dozing' on the river banks of Andvari's Falls when Loki kills him by throwing a stone at him. Later that evening, the Æsir visit Hreidmar's house where they are seized and imposed with a fine. Their fine consists of "filling the [Otr] skin with gold and covering the outside with red gold." Loki is sent to get the gold and he manages to trick the dwarf Andvari into giving him the gold as well as a cursed ring: "The dwarf went into the rock and said that the gold ring would be the death of whoever owned it, and the same applied to all the gold."<ref>Byock, pp. 40–46.</ref>

In the ''[[Grettis saga|Story of Grettir the Strong]]'', chapter 27, "The Suit for the Slaying of Thorgils Makson", Thorgeir conveys to court Thorgils Arison's offer of weregild as atonement for killing Thorgils Makson.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/gre/index.htm sacred-texts.com], The Story of Grettir the Strong: translation by Eiríkr Magnússon and Willam Morris (1869)</ref>

In the [[Old English]] [[Epic poetry|epic poem]] ''[[Beowulf]]'', lines 156–158 [[Grendel]] refuses to settle his killings with payment or recompense, and at lines 456–472, [[Hroðgar]] recalls the story of how [[Ecgþeow]] (Beowulf's father) once came to him for help, for he had slain Heaðolaf, a man from another tribe called the [[Wulfings]], and either could not pay the wergild or they refused to accept it. Hroðgar had married [[Wealhþeow]], who probably belonged to the Wulfing tribe, and was able to use his [[kinship]] ties to persuade the Wulfings to accept the wergild and end the feud.  Hroðgar sees Beowulf's offer as a son's gratitude for what Hroðgar had done for Beowulf's father.

===Modern===
In the novel ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], the journal of [[Isildur]] reveals that he justified taking the [[One Ring]] as a weregild for the deaths of his father ([[Elendil]]) and brother (Anárion) in battle. This fact is mentioned by Elrond during the council in chapter II: ‘Alas! yes,’ said Elrond (…) But Isildur would not listen to our counsel. “This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother,” he said. Appendix A of ''[[The Return of the King]]'' also mentions a rich weregild of [[gold]] sent by Túrin II, [[Stewards of Gondor|Steward]] of [[Gondor]], to King Folcwine of [[Rohan (Middle-earth)|Rohan]], after the death of his twin sons, Folcred and Fastred, in battle in [[Ithilien]].

In [[Jim Butcher]]'s [[The Dresden Files|Dresden Files]] novel ''[[Skin Game (The Dresden Files)|Skin Game]]'', [[Harry Dresden]] offers [[The Dresden Files characters#"Gentleman" Johnny Marcone|John Marcone]] a cashbox of diamonds as ''weregild'' for an employee murdered by Deirdre. Dresden says "That's for your dead employee's family. Take care of them with it. And leave my people out of it. It ends here."

In [[Rick Riordan]]'s novel ''[[The Hammer of Thor]]'', Hearthstone, an elf, must pay a wergild for his brother Andiron's death when they were children. Hearthstone, the older brother, was distracted and playing with rocks when a [[Brunnmigi]] emerged from a well and killed Andiron. Since Hearthstone was deaf, he did not notice until it was too late. Hearthstone was forced by their father to skin the large beast by himself, which was turned into a rug and placed on the floor of his room. To pay his wergild, he had to cover every single hair with gold earned from his father, generally by doing chores. Every meal and any free time, among other things, cost Hearthstone earned gold. This task was not accomplished until years later, and his father, Alderman, was reluctant to consider the debt paid, but finally conceded that Hearthstone was released from the debt.

==See also==
* [[Anglo-Saxon law]]

'''International:'''
* [[Diyya]], Islamic
* [[Éraic]], Irish
* [[Galanas]], Welsh
* [[Główszczyzna]], Polish

'''General:'''
* [[Value of life]]
* [[Wrongful death]]

{{Wiktionary|wergeld}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
* Byock, Jesse L. (1990) ''Saga of the Volsungs''. University of California Press. {{ISBN|0140447385}}.
* {{cite book |author-last=Esders |author-first=Stefan |chapter=Chapter 1 Wergild and the Monetary Logic of Early Medieval Conflict Resolution |editor-last1=Bothe|editor-first1=Lukas|editor-last2=Esders|editor-first2=Stefan|editor-last3=Nijdam|editor-first3=Han|title=Wergeld, Compensation and Penance: The Monetary Logic of Early Medieval Conflict Resolution|year=2021 |pages=1–37 |doi=10.1163/9789004466128_002}}
*{{cite book|author-last=Haubrichs |author-first=Wolfgang |chapter=Chapter 4 Wergeld: The Germanic Terminology of Compositio and Its Implementation in the Early Middle Ages |editor-last1=Bothe|editor-first1=Lukas|editor-last2=Esders|editor-first2=Stefan|editor-last3=Nijdam|editor-first3=Han|title=Wergeld, Compensation and Penance: The Monetary Logic of Early Medieval Conflict Resolution|year=2021 |pages=92–112 |doi= 10.1163/9789004466128_005}}
* Rabin, Andrew, ''The Political Writings of Archbishop Wulfstan of York'' (Manchester, 2015).
*{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schmidt-Wiegand |first=Ruth |orig-year=2006 |year=2010e |article=Wergeld |encyclopedia=Germanische Altertumskunde Online |url=https://www.degruyter.com/database/GAO/entry/RGA_6436/html}}

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[[Category:Early Germanic law]]
[[Category:6th century in law]]
[[Category:11th century in law]]
[[Category:Slavery in England]]
[[Category:Compensation for victims of crime]]