3/24/2023 0 Comments Pecunia pink floydThe Latin word pecunia means small cattle. Yes, cattle, treasure and money were even synonymous. In Italian language, as a legacy of the Lombards or Goths, you have the expression ‘ pagare il fio‘, meaning to pay the penalty for wrongdoing. The English word fee for a honorarium has the same origin. The Dutch word for livestock is (still) vee. The Old-Germanic word for wealth is fehu. The Franks had adopted currency from the Romans at the end of the eighth century, and under their rule economic reforms were introduced slowly. The Continental Saxons, also called Old Saxons, expressed weregeld much longer in livestock, and only started to relate it to gold and currency after being conquered by the Franks. Before the Roman Period and the introduction of the money economy, weregeld, or blood money, was probably donated in livestock. The fact that the concept of weregeld can be traced back to the Roman Period, does not mean it started there and then. Furthermore, the concept of weregeld is not limited to Germanic tribes, and can be found everywhere around the world (still). Read also our post Frisian mercenaries in the Roman Army. Together with the Cananefates, it was the territory of the Frisiavones. This weregeld related to solidis probably survived in southern parts of former West Frisia, namely present-day provinces Zeeland and Zuid Holland south of the river Rhine, which were part of the Roman Empire once. A Roman coin with a gold weight of 14,6 gram. Originally, the value of a weregeld was namely set at fifty golden Byzantine solidis. For example, the mechanism of a weregeld in Frisia can be traced back to the Roman Period. No, the principle of a more or less fixed price for slaying a man is much older and, in fact, a universal concept. Neither is it limited to the North-Sea area, or to Europe. The principle of a weregeld is much older than the Middle Ages. The original meaning of geld is ‘to compensate/to restore’, as the Dutch verb vergelden still means (Nijdam 2022). In Old-Frisian a weregeld was often shortened to simply ield. In Old-Saxon, a weregeld was called a mangeld. Also, the modern Mid-Frisian word jild for money is derived from geld. The German and Dutch word for money is still geld, just like in Old-Saxon. But also the Mid-Frisian, Dutch and English words wrâld, wereld, and world, all meaning ‘the age of men’. Thus, explaining too what a werewolf means: a man-wolf. Weregeld, also called wergeld or wergild, is a medieval Germanic word. So, if you want to be a successful producer in Los Angeles, we recommend to make sure you have ‘ avenging beautiful women in black (or yellow) leather suits’ as plan B in your portfolio. Although the list is far from complete, the last production we must mention is the superhero movie (yes again!) The Avengers in 2012, with Scarlett Johansson being superhero Black Widow. This series was repeated and rebooted again and again in the decades afterward, including with Hollywood stars like Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz. His darling angels were private avengers with Farrah Fawcett being one them. But also the ‘70s series Charlie’s Angels. She was a very very powerful avenger in Tarantino’s Kill Bill in 2003. In 2013, Diana resurfaced as the revengeful Lady Olenna in the Game of Thrones. Of course, we remember the ‘60s series The Avengers with the elegant Diana Rigg as Mrs Emma Peel, and its remake with Uma Thurman in 1998. Especially, if the avenger is a beautiful and strong woman. Apparently, we still very much like the idea of taking matters into our hands again and avenge bad people or aliens, or whatever nasty. Yes, in medieval Frisia everyone could be an avenger!Īvenging is still a very popular theme for television series and Hollywood movies. Where everything revolved around honor and avenging those who had compromised your honor. We shall explain in this post what the purpose of a weregeld was in a society that did not have a ruler or government. The murderer had to pay a so-called weregeld. The title of this post was a verdict of around the year 1100, concerning the slaying of a man. An area stretching from the (former) river Vlie in the Netherlands to the river Weser in Germany, including Land Wursten.
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