Gafol

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An Old English term for a payment of tribute, tax or rent owed to a lord, king or other ruler
2. A historical word for the dues, tribute or rent that a subject or tenant paid to a superior
3. Refers to the tax, rent or tribute levied by a lord or sovereign on those under his authority

Etymology: Gafol was an Old English word for a payment owed, such as rent, tax, or tribute. The word was practical and everyday: a tenant owed gafol to a lord, and a conquered population could be forced to pay it to a new ruler. Its relatives in other Germanic languages carry the same idea of settling a debt, and it is closely tied to "geld," the old word for payment that appears in "Danegeld," the tribute paid to Viking raiders. Gafol survives in English through "gavelkind," a Kentish system of land tenure in which an estate was divided equally among sons when a man died. The term is probably a compound of gafol and "kind," meaning something like "the type of land held by rent." Gavelkind is still a recognised legal term in Kent.