‘Ge mid wedde ge mid aðe’: the functions of oath and pledge in Anglo-Saxon legal culture
Matthias Ammon
This article analyses the Old English terms for ‘pledge-giving’ within context of Anglo-Saxon law codes and related material such as charters wills by means a contextual analysis occurrences terms. It argues centrality concept to legal interaction which agreements, in particular between individuals, were made binding shows that this had linguistic consequences tracing development collocation að wedd (‘oath pledge’) into formulaic word pair.
Historical Research