Book III, Chapter 21
Weregild: Archaic term for a fine made as legal reparations for an unlawful death at the hands of an offending party to their victim's family or clan. The precise value of the payment was based on the legal and social standing of the victim, with no division set between murder and manslaughter. A freeman was generally used as the base payment amount, with 200 shillings being the value assigned in 8th century Anglo-Saxon law, and this amount then modified appropriately according to the local mores—for example, among the Alamanni, the weregeld for women was twice that of an equal-status man, while among the Saxons, it was half. An envoy from Charlemagne was worth three times his normal value if killed while in active service to the king, and a priest was worth an extra hundred shillings if he was killed during the reading of Mass—presumably, both of these circumstances occurred enough to warrant the variance in the legal codes.
While these payments seem to be preposterous to a more modern outlook, it is important to note that, in their era, which lacked centralized law enforcement and more modern legal punishments, weregilds functioned as a system that allowed for deescalation of tensions, as opposed to the other option for restitution that was available: the victim's family going out and killing the killer, which would spark a cycle of revenge that would spiral into vendettas and feuds.
—From Aesir To Yggdrasil: A Norse Primer
Tropes That Appear In This Chapter:
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: The Bog Burglars claim that when they capture potential rapists, they build a wicker man out on the cliffs where ships can see, stick the rapist inside, and set it on fire, but Cami confirms to Heather, Atali, and Toiréasa and the tribe haven't actually done that for ages because of the lack of dry wood, and the difficulty in keeping it dry in their bog to make a wicker man of that size.
- First Kiss: Sigurd and Sophia have their first kiss this chapter.
- Internal Reveal:
- Toiréasa finds out that Alvin and Delilah (Fagr) were last seen in Rome, Heather is pregnant, and that Dagur is Heather's brother.
- Cami finds out that Dagur is Heather's brother.
- Tears of Joy: A rabbi cries when he is given Citron, palm, myrtle, and willow from Eretz Yisrael.Before, we might be able to get one to fulfill the mitzvah with, shipped up from the south of Francia or Greece or someplace… but these… these are from… from Eretz Yisrael. From home.
