jarl

See also: Jarl

English

Etymology

From Old Norse jarl, from Proto-Norse ᛖᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (erilaʀ). Cognates include Old English eorl. Doublet of earl and eorl.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /jɑɹl̩/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /jɑːl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)l

Noun

jarl (plural jarls)

1. (historical) A medieval Scandinavian nobleman, especially in Norway and Denmark.

   Coordinate terms: karl, thrall

   • 2016, Louise Spilsbury, “Powerful Kings and Suffering Slaves”, in The Vikings: Dig Up the Secrets of the Dead (History Hunters), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Raintree, →ISBN, page 18:

     There were three kinds of Viking: thralls, karls and jarls. Thralls were the slaves. They were owned by karls and jarls.

Translations

medieval Scandinavian nobleman, especially in Norway and Denmark

• Danish: jarl c
• Faroese: jallur m
• Finnish: jaarli (fi)
• German: Jarl (de) m
• Icelandic: jarl (is) m
• Marathi: यार्ल m (yārla)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: jarl m

  Nynorsk: jarl m

• Old Norse: jarl m
• Polish: jarl (pl) m
• Proto-Norse: ᛖᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (erilaʀ)
• Russian: ярл (ru) (jarl)
• Swedish: jarl (sv) c

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse jarl, from Proto-Norse ᛖᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (erilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *erlaz, akin to Old English eorl (English earl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjarl/, /ˈjɑːˀl/, [ˈjɑ̰̈ˑl̺]

Noun

jarl c (singular definite jarlen, plural indefinite jarler)

1. (historical) jarl (a title given to the highest noblemen in Norse times.)
2. an earl (British nobleman)

Inflection

Declension of jarl

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	jarl	jarlen	jarler	jarlerne
genitive	jarls	jarlens	jarlers	jarlernes

References

• “jarl” in Den Danske Ordbog

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse jarl, from Proto-Norse ᛖᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (erilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *erlaz, akin to Old English eorl (English earl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ja(r)tl/
• Rhymes: -artl

Noun

jarl m (genitive singular jarls, nominative plural jarlar)

1. jarl
2. earl (especially applied to nobles of Britain in modern times)

Declension

Declension of jarl (masculine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	jarl	jarlinn	jarlar	jarlarnir
accusative	jarl	jarlinn	jarla	jarlana
dative	jarli	jarlinum	jörlum	jörlunum
genitive	jarls	jarlsins	jarla	jarlanna

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse jarl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɑːɭ/

Noun

jarl m (definite singular jarlen, indefinite plural jarler, definite plural jarlene)

1. (historical) jarl (a title given to the highest noblemen in Norse times. Went out of use in the 14th century.)
2. an earl (British nobleman)

References

• “jarl” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse jarl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɑrl/, /jɑːɭ/

Noun

jarl m (definite singular jarlen, indefinite plural jarlar, definite plural jarlane)

1. (historical) jarl (a title given to the highest noblemen in Norse times. Went out of use in the 14th century).
2. an earl (British nobleman)

References

• “jarl” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• ᛁᛅᚱᛚ (iarl) — Old East Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Norse ᛖᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (erilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *erlaz.

Noun

jarl m (genitive jarls)

1. (poetic) a highborn, noble man or warrior
2. earl (in dignity next to the king)

Declension

Declension of jarl (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	jarl	jarlinn	jarlar	jarlarnir
accusative	jarl	jarlinn	jarla	jarlana
dative	jarli	jarlinum	jǫrlum	jǫrlunum
genitive	jarls	jarlsins	jarla	jarlanna

Derived terms

• jarlborinn
• jarldómr
• jarldœmi
• jarlsdóttir
• jarlsmaðr
• jarlsnafn
• jarlsríki
• jarlssonr
• jarlssæti

Descendants

• Icelandic: jarl
• Faroese: jallur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: jarl
• Old Swedish: iarl, iærl
  • Swedish: järl
• Old Danish: ierl
• → Danish: jarl (reborrowed)
  • Norwegian Bokmål: jarl
• → English: jarl
• → Finnish: jaarli
• → Swedish: jarl (reborrowed)

Further reading

• “jarl” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “jarl”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old Norse jarl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjarl/
• Rhymes: -arl
• Syllabification: jarl

Noun

jarl m pers

1. (historical) jarl (medieval Scandinavian nobleman, especially in Norway and Denmark)
2. (historical) jarl (leader of a viking team)

Declension

Declension of jarl

	singular	plural
nominative	jarl	jarlowie
genitive	jarla	jarlów
dative	jarlowi	jarlom
accusative	jarla	jarlów
instrumental	jarlem	jarlami
locative	jarlu	jarlach
vocative	jarlu	jarlowie

Further reading

• jarl in Polish dictionaries at PWN