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Norðleoda laga facts for kids

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Norðleoda laga is a set of laws apparently pertaining to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Mention of a Northumbrian king suggests that the text originates before the mid-tenth century, when Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom. The text comprises a list of the wergelds payable on the killing of people of different social statuses, with the following values:

Rank Thrymsa
King 30,000
Archbishop/aetheling 15,000
Bishop/ealdorman 8,000
Hold/high-reeve 4,000
Mass-thegn/secular thegn 2,000
Prospering ceorl 2,000
Ceorl 200
Prospering Welshman 120s.
Non-prospering Welshman 80s.
Landless Welshman 70s.

Editions and translations

  • Liebermann, F. (ed.), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, 3 vols (Halle a. S.: Niemeyer, 1903–16), I 458–60.
  • Monk, Chris (ed. and trans.), Norðleoda Laga (‘Laws of the Northumbrians’), Textus Roffensis, ff. 93v-94r (Rochester: Rochester Cathedral Research Guild, 2018)
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