Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A tax levied in England from the 10th to the 12th century to finance protection against Danish invasion.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In English history, an annual tax first imposed in 991 on the decree of the witan in order to obtain funds for the maintenance of forces to oppose the Danes, or for furnishing tribute to procure peace.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Eng. Hist.) An annual tax formerly laid on the English nation to buy off the ravages of Danish invaders, or to maintain forces to oppose them. It afterward became a permanent tax, raised by an assessment, at first of one shilling, afterward of two shillings, upon every hide of land throughout the realm.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun history A
tax raised originally to protect againstViking raiders in the 10th and 11th centuries, and later continued as a land tax.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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At the Christmas meeting of the court, in 1085, it was decided, apparently after much debate and probably with special reference to the general land-tax, called the Danegeld, to form by means of inquiries, officially made in each locality, a complete register of the occupied lands of the kingdom, of their holders, and of their values.
The History of England from the Norman Conquest to the Death of John (1066-1216) George Burton Adams 1888
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Æthelred had in an earlier part of his reign levied a land-tax known as the Danegeld to pay off the Danes -- the first instance of a general tax in England.
A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3) From the earliest times to the Death of King Edward VII Samuel Rawson Gardiner 1865
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King Ethelred and his cowardly, selfish Court were well satisfied with this expedient, and the tax called Danegeld was laid upon the people, in order to raise a fund for buying off the enemy.
A Book of Golden Deeds Charlotte Mary Yonge 1862
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They only operate on the idea of Danegeld, and will do so until military action removes them from power and / or existence.
Cafe Hayek 2008
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This entirely predictable denouement arrives when, as a result of Tony Blair carefully burnishing his credentials for the job of President of the EU, the Danegeld we pay to the EU for the non-existent benefit of being a member is eye-wateringly ratcheted upwards by 68% in two years.
To Nobody's Surprise 2009
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This entirely predictable denouement arrives when, as a result of Tony Blair carefully burnishing his credentials for the job of President of the EU, the Danegeld we pay to the EU for the non-existent benefit of being a member is eye-wateringly ratcheted upwards by 68% in two years.
Archive 2009-08-30 2009
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Danegeld or not, money served the Britsih Empire well.
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Danegeld didn't work with the danes and it won't work now.
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Didn't Kipling make the point that if you keep paying the Danegeld you won't get rid of the Dane?
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John Richardson, but whether you 'cold turkey' it or not, as long as you have a TV in the house, you have to pay the Danegeld.
qms commented on the word Danegeld
I see that the purveyor of the WotD is honoring tax day in the US. I am moved to tears.
When agony's over and the tribute paid
At Norsemen’s feet the blame is laid.
The Danegeld, the fact is,
Began all our taxes
Which feel to this day like a Viking raid.
April 15, 2014