Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

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heals-fang

  • noun [ neuter ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
heals-fang, es; n.
A term occurring in the laws which Thorpe thus defines: 'The sum every man sentenced to the pillory would have had to pay to save him from that punishment had it been in use.' The word occurs in the following passages
Show examples

  • Gif ceorl búton wífes wísdóme deóflum gelde hé síe ealra his ǽhtan scyldig and healsfange

    if a married man without his wife's knowledge sacrifice to idols let him be liable in all his possessions and his 'heals-fang,'

    • L. Wih. 12, 11, 14
      • ;
    • Th. i. 40, 5, 2, 10
      • .

  • Gylde man cxx scill. tó healsfange æt twelfhyndum were. Healsfang gebyreþ bearnum bróðrum and fæderan ne gebyreþ nánum mǽge ðæt feoh búte ðam ðe sý binnan cneówe. Of ðam dæge ðe ðæt healsfang ágolden sý...,

    • L. E. G. 13
      • ;
    • Th. i. 174, 23-7
      • :
    • L. Edm. S. 7
      • ;
    • Th. i. 250, 20
      • :
    • L. Eth. vi. 51
      • ;
    • Th. i. 328, 11
      • ;
    • L. C. S. 37
      • :
    • Th. i. 398, 13: 45
      • ;
    • Th. i. 402, 14: 61
      • ;
    • Th. i. 408, 19
      • :
    • L. C. F.14
      • ;
    • Th. i. 428, 7
      • :
    • L. H. 11, 7, 10
      • ;
    • Th. i. 521, 5, 10: 76, 6
      • ;
    • Th. i. 582, 4
      • .
Schmid A. S. Gesetze, p. 609, suggests a different origin from that given by Thorpe, 'Es liegt nahe, an die Berechnung der Verwandtschaftsgrade nach den Gliedern des menschlichen Leiber zu denken, wo dann die nächsten Verwandten, die auf den Halsfang Anspruch haben, in den Hals zu stehen kommen könnten, und damit hängt vielleicht Zusammen, dass die Gradberechnungen nicht von dem gemeinschaftlichen Stammvater, sondern dessen Kindern beginnen, sodass die näherstehenden Verwandten als binnan cneówe befindlich bezeichnet werden konnten.' But while this explanation might suit the circumstances described in the passage given above, from Edmund's Laws, it would not be applicable in the earlier passage from Wihtræd's Laws. Schmid seems to refer the penalty, in its origin, too exclusively to cases of killing: 'Eine Geldbusse, die bei einer Tödtung in Verbindung mit dem Wergeld an die nächsten Verwandten des Getödteten gezahlt werden musste, die aber auch sonst zur Bestimmung der Grösse einer Busse genannt wird.'
Etymology
[Cf.
Icel. háls-fang; n. embracing: háls-fengja to embrace
.]
Linked entries
v.  and-fang fang.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “heals-fang.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/18442.

Checked: 2
Full form

Word-wheel

  • heals-fang, n.

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