A thrall (, , , , , ) was a slave or serf in Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The corresponding term in Old English was (plural ). The status of slave (, ) contrasts with that of the freeman (, ) and the nobleman (, ). The Middle Latin rendition of the term in early Germanic law is . Etymology Thrall is from the Old Norse , meaning a person who is in bondage or serfdom. The Old Norse term was lent into late Old English, as . The term is from a Common Germanic ("runner", from a root "to run"). Old High German had a cognate, , meaning "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). The corresponding native term in Anglo-Saxon society was (from Germanic , perhaps from a PIE root , "to run") A related Old English term is "labourer, hireling" (from Germanic , cognate with Gothic "hireling", a derivation from "reward", from the same root as English earn). The term was borrowed into Irish as , where is it used interchangeably with which is a cognate of the English slave (likewise for Slav is disputed). Early Germanic law The thrall represents the lowest of the three-tiered social order of the Germanic peoples, noblemen, freemen and slaves, in Old Norse , and (c.f. Rígsþula), in Old English corresponding to , and , in Old Frisian , , , etc. The division is of importance in the Germanic law codes, which make special provisions for slaves, who were property and could be bought and sold, but they also enjoyed some degree of protection under the law. The death of a freeman was compensated by a weregild, usually calculated at 200 solidi (shillings) for a freeman, whereas the death of a slave was treated as loss of property to his owner and compensated depending on the value of the worker. Society Thralls were the lowest class of workers in Scandinavian society. They were Europeans who were enslaved by being prisoners of war, incurring debt or being born into the class via their parents. The living conditions of thralls in Scandinavia varied depending on the master. The thrall trade as the prize of plunder was a key part of the Viking economy. While there are some estimates