Housecarl

Housecarls were household troops, personal warriors and equivalent to a royal bodyguard to Scandinavian kings. The anglicized term comes from the old Norse term huskarl or huscarl (literally, ?house man?, ie. armed man in the service of a specific house.) They were also called hirth (?household?) that referred to household troops.

Housecarls, unlike most other Norsemen, were professional warriors in the service of a chieftain, noble or king. The term entered into the English language when household troops of king Canute conquered and occupied England.

Eventually the housecarls became basis of warrior aristocracy which merged into early medieval knights.