Alaðs-festr

Meaning of Old Norse word "alaðs-festr"

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

alaðs-festr

ar, f. [obsolete alaðr, alimentum, Ýt. 13, v. l.], a law term in the Icel. Commonwealth, viz. the eighth part of the sum fjörbaugr (life-money), amounting to an ounce, a fee to be paid by a convict in the Court of Execution (féránsdómr); if a convict, liable to the lesser outlawry, failed in paying off the alaðsfestr, he thereby became a complete outlaw, úalandi; hence the name life-money or blood-money. It is thus defined: þar skal gjaldast mörk lögaura at féránsdómi, goða þeim er féránsdóminn nefndi; þat fé heitir fjörbaugr, en einn eyrir (ounce) þess fjár heitir a. ef þat fé (the alaðsf. or the whole fjörb.?) gelzt eigi, þá verði hann skógarmaðr úæll, Grág. i. 88; nú gelzt fjörbaugr ok a. þá skal dæma svá sekðarfé hans sem skógarmanns, 132: Njála uses the less classic form, aðalfestr (per metath.), Nj. 240; cp. Johnsonius (Lat. transl.), p. 529, note 8.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᛅᛚᛅᚦᛋ-ᚠᛁᛋᛏᚱ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements