Arvals

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Arvals, Arvels or Arthels (Old Norse Arfr, "inheritance", and ol, Old English "Ale", a banquet), primarily the funeral dinner, and later, especially in the north of England, a thin, light, sweet cake, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, served to the poor at such feasts. The funeral meal was called the Arvel-dinner. The custom seems to have been to hold on such occasions an informal inquest, when the corpse was publicly exposed, to exculpate the heir and those entitled to the property of the dead from all accusations of foul play.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.