High Norse noble title ranking below king, with military and administrative power.
Jarl designates the highest rank below king in the social hierarchy of Old Norse society. A jarl often governed a territory on the king's behalf and held the right to levy warriors.
In Rígsþula, Jarl is presented as Ríg's son and progenitor of the warrior nobility. The title was used historically of powerful chieftains such as Hákon jarl of Norway, whose influence rivalled royal authority.
Attestations
- Rígsþula, Poetisk Edda (ca. 1270, Codex Regius)
- Mythological origin account for the emergence of the jarl class.