The legal systems of the Germanic tribes in the early Middle Ages elaborated 
detailed catalogs of forfeits in compensation for certain physical injuries. The 
perpetrator had to pay the forfeit to the injured person, or in case of 
manslaughter, to the tribe of the dead. By doing so he could avert the feud 
which otherwise faced him. These catalogs of forfeits exactly reflect the 
relative value that was appointed to certain parts of the body and to sensory 
functions. The catalog of the Lex Saxonum (c. 802), in which physical injuries 
are listed, ranging from loss of single phalanges, differentiated between thumb, 
forefinger, small finger, and the other fingers, to death, is compared with 
modern grades of disability. There are surprising parallels and interesting 
contrasts. Bilateral deafness is put on a level with bilateral blindness, the 
loss of both hands, both feet, both testicles, and death.