Dane

from Dan. Daner, replacing O.E. Dene (pl.), used in O.E. of Northmen generally. Applied 1774 to a breed of large dogs. Danegeld not known by that name in O.E., or until 1086, long after the end of the Viking depredations. Supposedly originally a tax to pay for protection from the Northmen (either to outfit defensive armies or to buy peace). Danelaw (c.1050) was the Danish law in force over that large part of England under Viking rule after c.878; the application to the land itself is modern (1837).