Jarl

Jarl was an early Scandinavian term for a warrior of the noble class, identical to the Anglo-Saxon rank of Earl, which is another pronunciation of the same word.

History

In Germanic mythology, Jarl was the given name of a certain young man skilled at arms, the son of a married noble woman who was impregnated by the god Heimdall, who, in human form, was an overnight house guest of the lady and her husband. During the same journey, the promiscuous Heimdall is also credited with fathering two more sons, Thrall and Karl, each of whose names were assigned to a different social class.