Re: Sandy Petersen and Roderick Robertson on the correct spelling of
wergeld; it's difficult to speak of the 'right' spelling of words in the
medieval period, especially for a language like Old English, which
possessed a number of distinct dialects and changed considerably over time.
But for what it's worth--J.R. Clark Hall's _Concise Anglo-Saxon
Dictionary_ gives entries for the spellings wergeld, wergild, and wergyld.
It does not, however, list any 3-syllable forms, like weregild or weregeld
(or even wereguild, the spelling that started all of this).
D. Fleming
popej_at_cofc.edu
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