fjórðungsgjald (ON) noun

A quarter payment. According to Js Mah 3 it is paid from the property of a killer sentenced to outlawry to the kinsmen of the slain. It is unclear whether the ‘quarter’ is meant as one fourth of the wergild payment as suggested by Hertzberg, as this would suggest the remaining three quarters would be paid from elsewhere or not at all. Alternatively it could mean that the victim’s kinsmen were entitled to a quarter of the outlaw’s remaining property. The equivalent passage in FrL Intr 3 states that the outlaw’s kinsman is to pay a quarter of the payment from his (i.e. the outlaw’s) property (ON böti … fiórðung giallda).

quarter payment OIce Js Mah 3 Refs:

Hertzberg s.v. fjórðungsgjald