How much does a life cost?

[intertext]

I appeal to the collective knowledge of the flist.

Today, while teaching Beowulf, I pointed out the bit that always amuses me about Grendel, where they say that not only is he a horrible monster and eats our warriors but he doesn't even have the decency to pay weregild!

A hand popped up, and one student asked the very sensible question - what would weregild consist of? In other words, what was the going rate for a warrior's life in those days? I had to confess that I didn't have the foggiest but would endeavour to find out. If necessary, I'll do some research (or at least try Googling it), but I figured that one of my esteemed flist might just already know, so... any takers?

Comments

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

you can check some Frankish ones on the Salic Law excerpts at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook, but I don't know what the equivalents are.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip about the Internet Medieval Sourcebook! I'll investigate.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

I know there was a lot of haggling over it -- some people were more valuable than others. In one of the sagas -- Burnt Njal? Egil's? -- there's an enormous amount of arguing over settlements.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

That's interesting, thank you! By the way, I note from your profile that we share a time-zone; we obviously share insomnia - my sympathies!

[sjkasabi.livejournal.com]

Hmm, here's some likely-looking stuff:

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/saxlaw.htm

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/560-975dooms.html

Working through laws about wergild used to go down a treat with first years in my teaching days (we generally used the laws of the Salian Franks, though).

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Most of the early English law codes specify a fixed rate. So much for a freeman, so much for a thane (typically 3 or 6 times an ordinary freeman) and so much for someone who was 'half free' where that status existed. The going rate for a thane in Mercia was 1200 shillings but it did vary a bit by time and place.

[brinian.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I remember having this discussion in a class too. I can't remember which one though - either Old English I or Beowulf translation seminar. My notes are in a box in the garage. Where exactly in the garage or the box I couldn't say, but my memory of the notes agrees with chickenfeet2003's statement that there was a set amount depending on who you were.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

yes - that seems to be the general concensus!

[necrostopheles.livejournal.com]

The first thing I thought of when I read about the weregild in Beowulf was just exactly how do you put a price on a life (http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/sell_your_body/index.html)? I decided I would ask in class; that hand was mine.

My biggest surprise was that no one had asked that before.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

heh - no, you were the first! As you can see, though, you've provided me an entertaining question.