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wergeld

   Also found in: Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
wer·geld  (wûrgld) also wer·gild or were·gild (-gld)
n.
In Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law, a price set upon a person's life on the basis of rank and paid as compensation by the family of a slayer to the kindred or lord of a slain person to free the culprit of further punishment or obligation and to prevent a blood feud.

[Middle English wargeld, from Old English wergeld : wer, man; see w-ro- in Indo-European roots + geld, payment.]


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23) The person who allegedly committed the wrong could find a surety, who would assure the victim that the accused would pay his wergeld if fault were found.
For example, gone are the days of wergelds (paying a price to the family for killing a family member).
Wergeld was an Anglo-Saxon schedule of tort/crime penalties to be paid to the victim of a wrong, or to the family of a decedent.
 
 
 
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