Of þam dæge þe ꝥ heals-fang agolden sy on xxi nihtan gylde man þa man-bote þæs on xxi nihtan ꝥ fyht-wite þæs on xxi nihtan þæs weres ꝥ frumgyld ⁊ swa forð ꝥ fulgolden sy on þam fyrste þe witan geræden. Siþþan man mot mid lufe ofgan gif man [wille] fulle freondrædene habban.
In xxi days from the day that the heals-fang is paid let the manbot be paid. In xxi days from this the fightwite. In xxi days from this the ‘frumgyld’ of the wer; and so forth till it be fully paid within the time that the witan have appointed. After this they may depart with love if they desire to have full friendship.
Eal man sceal æt cyrliscum were be þære mæðe don þe him to-gebyreð swa we be twelf-hyndum tealdan.
All men shall do with regard to the wer of a ceorl that which belongs to his condition like as we have said about a twelve-hyndeman.
These steps in the procedure are very nearly the same as those quoted in the so-called ‘Laws of Henry I.’ and these clauses may probably be looked upon as more or less repeating for the benefit of both peoples what Anglo-Saxon custom may have been before the Viking invasions of England. But of this we cannot be certain.
III. FRAGMENTS OF MERCIAN AND THE NORTH PEOPLE’S LAW.
Fragments preserved of ancient custom.
We now have to consider a group of fragments of uncertain date which seem to belong to the period of the Northmen’s settlement in Northumbria and invasions in Mercia.
The settlement of the Viking invaders made it necessary to fix the relation of their wergelds to those of the conquered English, and also to gather up fragments of Mercian custom. As the Dooms of Mercian kings have not come down to us, these fragments have a special value.
The importance of Mercia in King Offa’s time gives a special interest to any information on Mercian custom. And in other respects, scanty though it be, the retrospect of early Anglo-Saxon custom from the invaders’ point of view could ill be spared.