Murder in Anglo-Saxon England: Justice, Wergild, Revenge

We all love a good murder story. Historian and author Annie Whitehead has collated around 100 cases in Anglo-Saxon England, from regicides to robberies gone wrong, and from personal feuds to state-sanctioned slaughter, examining their veracity and asking what, if anything, they can tell us about the motives of those who recorded them and about Anglo-Saxon governance and society.

The records contain many stories of murder, some of which include details of witchcraft and poisoning, or of betra...