DANEGELD, an English national tax originally levied by Aethelred II. as a means of raising the tribute which was the price of the temporary cessation of the Danish ravages. This ex pedient was first adopted in 991 and was repeated in 994, 1002, 1°07 and 1012. With the accession of the Danish king Canute, the original raison d'etre of the tax ceased to exist, but it con tinued to be levied, though for a different purpose, assuming now the character of an occasional war-tax. It was, apparently, not levied by Edward the Confessor in the latter part of his reign, but William the Conqueror revived it immediately after his ac cession, and it was with the object of facilitating its collection that he ordered the compilation of Domesday Book. It continued to be levied until '163, in which year the name Danegeld appears f or the last time in the Rolls. Its place was taken by other im posts of similar character but different name.