The hird (also named "Håndgangne Menn" in Norwegian), in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n history, was originally an informal
retinue
A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers.
Etymology
The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', it ...
of personal armed companions, hirdmen or
housecarls, but came to mean not only the nucleus ('Guards') of the royal army, but also developed into a more formal royal court household.
Etymology
The term comes from
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
''hirð'', (meaning Herd) again from either
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''hir(e)d'' 'household, family, retinue, court'
[See for instance, 'hirð' in Cleasby-Vigfusson, ''Icelandic-English Dictionary'']
online copy
/ref> or perhaps the old German cognate ''heirat'' 'marriage', both of which can mean "body of men" or more directly linked to the term for hearthguard, or men of one's own home and hearth.
History
While the term is often used in Norse sagas and law codices, it is a medieval term – the sagas were primarily written down in the 12th century using the language of their own time. There is some uncertainty as to what the term replaced, although the term ''hlid'' or ''lið'' is used in Danish sources for the warrior following of Canute the Great
Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...
.
By the reign of Håkon IV
Haakon IV Haakonsson ( – 16 December 1263; Old Norse: ''Hákon Hákonarson'' ; Norwegian: ''Håkon Håkonsson''), sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 y ...
(1204–1263) the Norwegian hird was no longer exclusively focused on the military function, and had acquired several subdivisions on continental patterns, with squire
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.
Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...
s (''kertilsveinr'', literally "candle-men", which were ceremonially required to hold candles at hird ceremonies), men-at-arms
A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a knig ...
(''hirdmenn'') and knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
s (''skutilsveinr'', literally "table-men"). In addition there were ''gestir'', who received only half pay and served as a sort of intelligence service, and were not allowed to sit at the king's table for supper, apart from Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
day and Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
day, when the entire hird was assembled and sections of their law code, the ''Hirdskraa
The Hirdskraa (''Hirðskrá''), 'The book of the hird', is a collection of laws regulating many aspects of the royal hird of late 13th century Norway. Compiled somewhere in the first part of the 1270s at the order of King Magnus VI (r. 1263-1280), ...
'' was read or recited. The upper levels of the hird were a recruitment ground for numerous royal officials, and most external officials were also incorporated into the hird. Somewhere during the reign of Magnus VI the older laws of the Hird were incorporated into the Hirdskraa
The Hirdskraa (''Hirðskrá''), 'The book of the hird', is a collection of laws regulating many aspects of the royal hird of late 13th century Norway. Compiled somewhere in the first part of the 1270s at the order of King Magnus VI (r. 1263-1280), ...
law code.
During the reign of Håkon V
Haakon V Magnusson (10 April 1270 – 8 May 1319) ( non, Hákon Magnússon; no, Håkon Magnusson, label=Modern Norwegian) was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319.
Biography
Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, Kin ...
(1299–1319) the Norse titles were dropped entirely in favor of continental titles. Emphasis was put on the Norwegian king's hird as a community of equals, a chivalresque corporation of warriors in which, technically, the king was the first among equals.
Hirdman
Hirdman (plural Hirdmen) is a word in Scandinavian languages (notably Norwegian and Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
), literally for a member of a Hird 'household, family'.
It is used as a title, originally, even in Norse mythology, for informal companions or retainers of the powerful, in the unruly old (often still pagan) times especially as companions in arms, later more refined like courtiers, a development not unlike that of the thegn or the Roman comes.
When the Norwegian royal hird had developed into a formal court, hirdman became the title of the highest of its four ranks, those magnates who were allowed to sit in the royal council (the closest feudal equivalent of a cabinet) and thus had a say in governmental and other important matters.
See also
* Thingmen
* Druzhina
Notes
References
Further reading
*'' Realencyclopädie der Klassischen Altertumswissenschaft: Hird''
* Helle, Knut: ''Konge og gode menn i norsk riksstyring ca. 1150-1319'', Bergen 1972.
*Helle, Knut: ''Norge blir en stat : 1130-1319 '', Bergen 1974.
*''Konungs Skuggsjá
''Konungs skuggsjá'' (Old Norse for "King's mirror"; Latin: ''Speculum regale'', modern Norwegian: ''Kongsspegelen'' (Nynorsk) or ''Kongespeilet'' (Bokmål)) is a Norwegian didactic text in Old Norse from around 1250, an example of speculum lite ...
'' and ''Hirdskraa
The Hirdskraa (''Hirðskrá''), 'The book of the hird', is a collection of laws regulating many aspects of the royal hird of late 13th century Norway. Compiled somewhere in the first part of the 1270s at the order of King Magnus VI (r. 1263-1280), ...
''.
*Norse Kings' sagas
Kings' sagas ( is, konungasögur, nn, kongesoger, -sogor, nb, kongesagaer) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were compo ...
: ''Fagrskinna
''Fagrskinna'' ( ; is, Fagurskinna ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is an intermediate source for the ''Heimskringla'' of Snorri Sturluson, containing histories of Norwegian k ...
'', '' Heimskringla'', '' Óláfs saga helga''.
*Sagas of Icelanders
The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early el ...
: '' Egils Saga'', '' Fornmanna Sögur''.
{{Germanic peoples
Military history of Norway
Early Germanic warfare