Thrall

Thrall (Old Norse þræll) was the term for a serf or unfree servant in Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age. Thralls were the lowest in the social order and usually provided unskilled labor during the Viking era.[1]

Etymology Thrall is from theOld Norseþræll meaning a person who is in bondage or serfdom. The Old Norse term was loaned into late Old English, as þræl. The corresponding native term inAnglo-Saxonsociety was þeow (from Germanic *þewa-, "servant", fromPIE*tek-, "to run") or esne (from Germanic *asniz, "reward", from PIE *osn- "harvest").

The term is from aCommon Germanicroot *þreh- "to run" and the Old Norse term in origin referred to "a runner".Old High Germanhad a cognate, dregil "servant, runner".

The English derivation thraldom is of High Medieval date. The verb to enthrall is of Early Modern origin (metaphorical use from the 1570s, literal use from 1610).