the fifth and sixth centuries was not Teutonic or Germanic, but
SCANDINAVIAN.

The lands won by the swords of all were the common property of all;
they were the lands of the people, FOLC-LAND; they were distributed
by lot at the FOLC-GEMOT; they were ODH-ALL lands; they were not
held of any superior nor was there any service savethat imposed by
the common danger. The chieftains were elected and obeyed, because
they represented the entire people. Hereditary right seems to have
been unknown. The essence of feudalism WAS A LIFE ESTATE, the land
reverted either to the sovereign or to the people upon the death of
the occupant. At a later period the monarch claimed the power of
confiscating land, and of giving it away by charter or deed; and
hence arose the distinction between FOLC-LAND and BOC-LAND (the
land of the book or charter), a distinction somewhat similar to the
FREEHOLD and COPYHOLD tenures of the present day. King Alfred the
Great bequeathed "his BOC-LAND to his nearest relative; and if any
of them have children it is more agreeable to me that it go to
those born on the male side." He adds, "My grandfather bequeathed
his land on the spear side, not on the spindle side; therefore if I
have given what he acquired to any on the female side, let my
kinsman make compensation."

The several ranks were thus defined by Athelstane:

"1st. It was whilom in the laws of the English that the people went
by ranks, and these were the counsellors of the nation, of worship
worthy each according to his condition--'eorl,' 'ceorl,' 'thegur,'
and 'theodia.'