Weregild
Weregild , noun
[Anglo-Saxon wergild; wer a man, value set on a man's life + gild payment of money; akin to German wehrgeld. r285. See Were a man, and Geld, n.]
(O. Eng. Law) The price of a man's head; a compensation paid of a man killed, partly to the king for the loss of a subject, partly to the lord of a vassal, and partly to the next of kin. It was paid by the murderer. — Blackstone