埃塞尔雷德二世于978年继承英格兰王位，时年约10岁1。自991年起，他开始向维京人支付丹麦金以缓解军事威胁，初期支付额为1万英镑1。这项政策的规模不断扩大，到1012年时丹麦金已增至4.8万英镑1。在埃塞尔雷德统治期间（991至1016年），英格兰共支付了24万英镑白银，相当于约84吨，折合5800万便士1。这笔巨款甚至超过了当时英格兰流通硬币的最高学术估计1。
历史上这一政策常被批评为失败之举，但实际上它在当时是一种普遍做法，并为英格兰建立了复杂的财政和军事体系1。丹麦金政策后来被征税制度所补充1。在后续统治者中也继续实行——克努特一世继位后征收了8.25万英镑的丹麦金，征服者威廉统治期间每年也征收丹麦金1。随着时间推移，丹麦金最终演变为诺曼王朝时期的常规王室收入来源1。大量埃塞尔雷德硬币在斯堪的纳维亚地区出土，证明了这笔资金的真实流向1。
King Æthelred II inherited the English throne around 978 at approximately ten years of age.1 Beginning in 991, his kingdom initiated a policy of paying tributes to Viking raiders, with the first payment amounting to 10,000 pounds of silver.1 These payments, known as Danegeld, escalated significantly over time—by 1012, the annual tribute had risen to 48,000 pounds.1 Over the course of Æthelred's reign through 1016, England disbursed a total of 240,000 pounds of silver, equivalent to approximately 84 tons or 5.8 million pence.1
The scale of these payments reveals the fiscal strain on the kingdom, as the sum exceeded the highest scholarly estimates of circulating coins in contemporary England.1 Archaeological evidence demonstrates the far-reaching impact of this policy: tens of thousands of coins bearing Æthelred's image have been discovered throughout Scandinavia, attesting to the flow of English wealth northward.1 Rather than representing an isolated failure, the Danegeld system reflected established medieval diplomatic practice and subsequently evolved into a more formalized tax structure, supplemented by the herergeld.1 Following Æthelred's death, his successor Cnut I collected 82,500 pounds in Danegeld.1 The practice persisted through the Norman conquest, with William the Conqueror continuing to levy Danegeld annually, eventually transforming it into a routine source of royal revenue for the Norman dynasty.1
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