Weregild
by Egil Njalsson
(January 1994)

The concept of weregild was a common one in the viking era. In brief, it was a means of legally settling bad feelings following a killing, by paying a fine. A full understanding, however, requires a bit of background.

The vikings, and in particular the Icelanders, had an extensive legal system. Iceland itself was split into four regions -- north, south, east, and west -- and each had a periodic meeting of all landowners, referred to as a Thing (pronounced "ting"). There were also annual meetings of all major landowners from all four quarters, and this was called an Allthing ("alting"). It is from this concept that Amtgard (a name which, in the Scandinavian languages, refers to a castle or keep centered in a county or region) derives its own system of legal meetings.

One of the purposes of the Thing or Allthing was to judge legally in the event of unsettled killings. Both sides involved would present their cases and reasoning at the Law Rock, and a jury of twelve to thirty-six men would decide the consequences. There was no question of guilt, for the accused must, by law, admit to the killing as soon as it happened, and find witnesses to swear to the fact that he did so. If he did not admit the deed, it was considered a secret murder, which was a much worse crime than a simple killing in a fair fight.

If the jury felt that the killer was a hardened criminal, there was a choice between two main penalties: banishment, and full outlawry. Banishment meant being exiled from that area for a period of three years. During that time, if the person was found in the vicinity they could be killed without penalty. (It was during one such banishment that Eirik the Red decided to sail abroad rather than return to other lands where he also had enemies; and in his journeys he discovered Greenland.) Full outlawry was much the same, but had no time limit: that person was considered "outside the law," and could thus be ill-treated or even killed, without the outlaw's family or friends having any legal means to seek redress.

There was another way of settling killings: the payment of a fine, or "weregild." This could be levied by the jury (who would each get a small percent), or the case could be settled out of court. The amount varied, depending on the importance of the person killed. A freeman laboring on a farmstead, for instance, might go for 100 pieces (ounces) of silver, while a member of the family of the head of the household might go for 200 pieces of silver, or much greater. (A slave would not usually be worthy of weregild; the involved parties would instead find another means to settle the score, which may or may not involve the spilling of more blood.) The largest recorded fine decided by a jury was 600 pieces of silver, as recounted in the thirteenth-century classic, Njal's Saga.

The payment of weregild was not simply a matter of paying a standard fine, though it was considered an honorable means of settling a score in the wake of a killing, if both sides were willing to settle for it. Rather than being an automatic penalty, it was simply one option within the legal system. The wronged parties, depending on the circumstances and the reason for the killing, often would not accept the out-of-court settlement. Instead they would often seek to gather influential support to take the case to the next Thing where they could demand banishment or outlawry.

Of course, there was always the option of blood revenge...

Return to Egil's home page