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Vikings had their wealth measured by the numbers of horses they owned.
When a viking died, tradition wanted his heirs to throw a huge banquet, where more than half the horses were butchered and offered to members of other families in the tribe. Granting those families (not related to the dead) will get some decent food for a while.
It strikes me how a thousand year old violent civilization had a mean to avoid cross-generational wealth transmission. It's a bit like how the pirate could vote a woman as captain of their ship... May be there something about living a dangerous life that make you more of a decent human being by our modern criteria.