How was viking society organized?
Lowest class of Norse (aka “viking”) society was the “unfree”: thralls -They were somewhere between what we might today call a slave, an indentured servant and serf. A thrall or ambatt (the female equivalent of thrall) could be “owned” directly by any higher class. However, there were severe penalties for injuring or kill a thrall and there were provisions in place for thralls to earn their freedom. Next were the freemen: Bondi and Karls – They owned their own land. We might call the bondi “yeomen” or “peasant farmers”, although karls were often soliers as well. There were also “hauldr” who had a hereditary right the land and whom we might call “chieftains,” although karls could also be cheiftains. The freemen of various rank and social standing made up the largest class of Norse society. Within this strata of society, much of the social structure depended on the relations between extended families and advantagous marriages. Blood feuds (on the level of the Hatfields and McCoys) were a
