eorls

Eorls is the archaic plural form of eorl, a term in Old English for a nobleman or warrior who held land and owed military service. The singular eorl roughly translated to “nobleman” or “thane” in some contexts, and the word functioned as a title within a broader hierarchy of freemen and lords.

In the early medieval English social order, eorls were powerful regional lords, ranking below the king and above free men without noble status. They controlled land, led troops, and granted protection and estates to followers in exchange for service. Their authority often extended over both military and judicial matters within their territories, and they frequently acted as regional centers of power in royal disconnected or contested regions.

The term is attested in Old English literature such as Beowulf and in royal charters; it is cognate with Norse jarl and with the later English “earl.” This linguistic lineage reflects broader Germanic cultural ties across early medieval Europe and helps explain the parallel development of noble ranks in different kingdoms.

After the Norman Conquest, the office gradually evolved into the title “earl” in English, with the plural eorlas appearing in older texts. In modern usage, the standard plural is “earls,” and the historical term survives mainly in scholarship and literary references.

In contemporary fiction and scholarship, the word endures as a historical reference or in the proper name Eorl in Tolkien’s legendarium, preserving the Old English form in a modern fantasy context.