Ranks and Classes among the Anglo-Saxons. 239 



tector." Again, in the Saxon Chronicle (A. D. 968) ; " neither 

 king, nor bishop, nor earl, nor shire-reeve." In these two pas- 

 sages the earls are certainly not an hereditary class, but per- 

 sons invested with power and authority. This view is sup- 

 ported by the fact that in the Saxon Chronicle this word is 

 regularly used for the Danish jarls.* 



The use of the word in poetry is not inconsistent with the 

 view here presented. In Beowulf,' for example, the earliest 

 Anglo-Saxon poem, it is translated by Mr. Thorpe, 20 times 

 by warrior^ 13 times by earl^ 7 times by man, hero once, and 

 nohle once : where it is translated nolle, (v. 4488) either of the 

 other terms would have made equally good sense. Indeed, if 

 one always rendered it " man," using the word with the same 

 latitude that we do in English (e. g., as in the expressions, 

 " This was a man," " a company of so many men," " he was 

 such a one's man ") it would answer fairly enough ; in several 

 verses (3458, 4272 and 6327) we find eorlscipe translated 

 " bravery" — virtus. (Noble is regularly aetheling ; see vv. 1968, 

 2592). This is consistent likewise with the song of the Battle 

 of Brunanburh (Sax. Chron. A. D. 937), where Athelstan is 

 called " Eorla Dryhten," (lord of earls) ; again, (A. D. 957), 

 •we read of Edgar " thaet cyningas and eorlas georne to him 

 bugon " (that kings and earls willingly submitted to him). In 

 Christian poetry Christ is called " Eorla hleo," refuge of men. 



There is, however, one poem of very great antiquity, the 

 Eigsmal, which certainly appears to support the view that the 

 Danish jarls were originally an hereditary class ; it is cited 

 by Munch and Keyser to show that this was the mythical or 

 praehistoric meaning, although they hold without any ques- 

 tion that its historical meaning was that here presented. In 

 this poem the three classes, of nobles, commons and slaves are 

 represented as descended from three brothers, Jarl, Karl and 



le. g., A. D. 8T1, 915. 



2 Moat of these references to Beowulf were furnished to me by my fiiend, Mr. Thos. 

 Davidson, of St. Louis. 



