Description

A wergeld refers to a medieval customary law based on claims originating through kinship.

Discussion

The term derives from Old English language with wer meaning "man" and geld meaning "payment" or "tribute".

The wergeld system existed and operated throughout many societies without a coercive and monopolised government.

The two wergeld systems arguably most consistent with justice were those of Anglo-Saxony (600s to 1066 CE) and Iceland (930 - 1260s).

In Iceland the term equivalent to wergeld is manngjöld. This system was replaced by codified laws when the Norwegian crown took control of Iceland.

The Anglo-Saxon wergeld, while laying the foundations for common law, ended upon the Norman conquest.

Bruce L Benson, The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State (Independent Institute 2011)