A thrall (Old Norse: þræll, Norwegian: trell) was a slave or serf in Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The corresponding term in Old English þeow . The status of slave (þræll, þeow ) contrasts with those of the freeman (karl, ceorl) and the nobleman (jarl, eorl). The Middle Latin rendition of the term in early Germanic law is servus. The social system of serfdom is continued in medieval feudalism.