Paganism and Forgiveness by Gråulf

There is nothing in Paganism about forgiveness, or turning the other cheek. In fact, pagans did not believe that forgiveness was something you begged for, and expected to receive if you said you were sorry. That is so weak and pathetic, and implies that forgiveness is something you have a right too for the asking. That is not how it worked in a tooth for a tooth, and an eye for an eye world. If you wronged someone it was your responsibility to make the transgression right to the wronged persons satisfaction.

In pagan Europe the notion that forgiveness comes with a price evolved into a system of wergild, a fine that could be paid for murder or manslaughter if the victims family chose to accept it. The size of the wergild depended on the social rank of the victim. A regular freeman was worth 200 shillings in 9th century Mercian law, and a nobleman was worth 1200. The wergild for a Welshman was 110 if he owned at least one hide of land, and 80 if he was landless. Thralls and slaves technically commanded no wergild, but it was commonplace to make a nominal payment in the case of a thrall and to pay the value of a slave in such a case. A shilling was defined as the value of a cow in Kent, or a sheep elsewhere, so 200 shilling for a free man was enough to impoverish most families. The wergild for women relative to that of men of equal rank varied: Among the Alamanni, it was double the wergild of men, and among the Saxons half that of men a man.

I like the Jewish concept of forgiveness. So much of Paganism has been lost, but Judaism is almost as old as Paganism, and most contemporary religions have some commonality. By Jewish law there is a date every year by which time you have to be square with the world. That means paying your debt, and repairing any evil committed by you during the past year. Even then, you must ask the wronged person for forgiveness, and the wronged person gets to decide what compensation forgiveness will require. If forgiveness is refused three times that is the way it stands, because even God cannot forgive a transgression on behalf of one wronged.

Gråulf.