danegeld
/ˈdeɪnɡɛld/
noun
- A tax paid in medieval England to buy off Viking raiders, especially Danes; used figuratively to mean any payment made to an aggressor to avoid conflict.
- King Ethelred the Unready collected danegeld to stop Viking attacks on English villages.
- In modern politics, critics sometimes call foreign aid to hostile nations a form of danegeld.
- Some historians argue that paying danegeld only encouraged more raids.