blood money

blood money, compensation paid by an offender (usually a murderer) or his kin group to the kin group of the victim. In many societies blood money functions to prevent the continuation of hostilities in the form of a feud (q.v.). Some customs allow the injured party the choice of punishing the murder by blood vengeance or by blood money.

Among the Anglo-Saxon tribes, members of the killer’s kin group contributed to pay wergild, or blood money, to the kin of the victim. Kinsmen contributed according to the distance of the relationship to the murderer; the sum was divided among the victim’s kin on the same basis. Among many Indians of the northern Pacific coast of North America, blood payment was mandatory after killings in order to make peace possible, even when actual blood vengeance was also required. In most places there was no fixed standard, each group demanding as large an amount as possible. If agreement was not reached, feud might result.