Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-27447621-20160428221352/@comment-25936766-20170708161717

...Wait, Housecarl? Not Huscarl? [Researches a bit] Ah, they're the same.

"House Man", personal retinues of warriors kept by the different germanic tribal leaders, who served the chief fanatically in exchange for large shares of whatever they plundered. Besides training and fighting, they did little else.

Of course, they could always just ditch the chief if he sucked too much at plundering.

Later on, as the Dark Ages progressed and the feudal system became more commonplace, Huskarls were assimilated in the form of vassals of lords, and instead of sharing plunder, they were responsible for supporting the lands granted to them by their lord.

Initially, Huskarl referred just to household servants, but later it started being used to refer to the "elite household guards" of Viking Lords. As vassals, they still were supposed to act as their Lord's personal elite fighting force, though in comparison, it was far less "personal".