beowulf vocab

mead

a fermented drink made from honey

mead hall

Nordic King's structure, center of the community, a place for feasting, with ample brewed beverages (mead

scop

the person in a tribe or clan whose job it is to keep the clan’s history and stories alive

Beot

A ritualized boast in a mead-hall, not so much a negative sign of arrogance as a positive sign of determination and character

Wyrd

the Anglo-Saxon concept of fate, mostly seen in a hero’s willingness to test fate by matching his courage against heavy odds.

Comitatus

the Anglo-Saxon “social contract” where a clan is bound together by ties of honor and interdependence.

Wergild

also known as man price, was a precept in some historical legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, to be paid as a fine or as compensatory damages to the person's family if that person was killed or injured by another.

Lof

Deserved or earned praise. This is the closest the Anglo-Saxons come to the concept of “Fame after death”