Talk:Thrall
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Isn't it Træll in Norwegian atleast? Not Thræl.
It is spelled Träl in Swedish, Træl in Norwegian and Danish.
- Hmm. And what's most common term in English? Pavel Vozenilek 15:48, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
I have read and studied many sources (sorry can't remember exact references, but the current article cites none) that attest that the norse thralls actually had many rights, including the right to wages, and to purchase their freedom. While they were considered a lower class, it was still considered wrong to physically abuse a thrall. This makes them very distinct from slaves, as the definition of a slave is a person without rights, and who is wholly legally owned as property. Considering, even, that thralls were a social class in the norse world, shows that they were considered as people, not property. They were more akin to indentured servants than slaves. I believe that thjis is a very important distinction. -Angatyr
I have found a suitable refence with appropriate information. Below are two books I have studied, and a webpage that describes informatiopn in a good overview.
Nicholson, Andrew. "Viking Social Organization". 1991. Regia Anglorum.
Simpson, Jacqueline. "The Viking World". 1980. New York: St. Martin's Press
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~clit387/Norse.html
-Angatyr
[edit] Contradiction
THe information on this page is contradicted on the "Slavery in the middle ages" page. There it is stated that the mother's freedom, not the fathers is the determining factor as to whether you are born a thrall. Which is correct?
Scandinavian customs often differed from those of the rest of Europe. Just write the seeming discrepency off as cultural differences.
