Danegeld

American  

[deyn-geld] / ˈdeɪnˌgɛld /

Also danegeld,

noun

1. (in medieval England) an additional tax on land believed to have been levied originally as a tribute to the Danish invaders but later continued for other purposes.

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Danegeld British  

/ ˈdeɪnˌɡɛlt, ˈdeɪnˌɡɛld /

noun

1. the tax first levied in the late 9th century in Anglo-Saxon England to provide protection money for or to finance forces to oppose Viking invaders

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Etymology

Origin of Danegeld

before 1150; Middle English denegeld, danegeld, Old English (Domesday Book) Danegeld. See Dane, geld ²

Example Sentences

It was only a few years since the Danegeld, the tax collected from all England to ward off the raids of Danish sea-rovers, had been abolished.

From In the Days of the Guild by Lamprey, Louise

He raised a Danegeld to satisfy his men, and sent his house-carls to force the people to pay the heavy tax.

From A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3) From the earliest times to the Death of King Edward VII by Gardiner, Samuel Rawson

St. Alphege at Canterbury had been, it is said, one of the first advisers of the ignominious payment of the Danegeld: but there was one thing which he would not do. 

From Roman and the Teuton by Kingsley, Charles

On the other hand, the fact that Edmund agreed to levy Danegeld in his own kingdom of Wessex looks suspiciously like the recognition of Canute as overlord of the southern kingdom.

From Canute the Great The Rise of Danish Imperialism during the Viking Age by Larson, Laurence Marcellus

Henry wished that a certain tax, probably a survival of the Danegeld, which was paid to the sheriffs, should be brought into the royal revenue.

From The English Church in the Middle Ages by Hunt, William