Huscarl

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A warrior or armed retainer who served a Scandinavian or Anglo-Saxon nobleman in exchange for protection and sustenance
2. A male servant or household warrior maintained by a Viking or Anglo-Saxon lord as part of his personal military force
3. A professional fighter or bodyguard employed by a Norse or English chieftain to provide military service and protection

Etymology: Huscarl was a term for an elite household warrior in Anglo-Saxon England and Scandinavia, and it carries a memorable early history. Around 1016 the English king Cnut (Canute) was fighting for the throne, and his personal bodyguards, drawn from Scandinavian warriors, became known in English sources as huscarls, the most feared fighting men of their lords. Cnut's own huscarls later formed a core force under his successors, and at Stamford Bridge in 1066 King Harold Godwinson's huscarls fought on in a shield wall until the end of the battle. The word is formed from Old Norse "húskarl," from "hús" (house) and "karl" (man, freeman, or fellow). Literally it means "house man" or "man of the household," a retainer who lived under his lord's roof and owed him service. The same root "karl" survives in English "churl," which once meant an ordinary free man and only later took on its modern sense of a boor.

Synonyms: warrior, soldier, fighter, retainer