For other uses of the word thrall, see Thrall (disambiguation)

A thrall (Þræll; Þír, f.) was a slave in Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age. Slavery was one of the primary sources of income for the Vikings. Thralls were first described by the Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote in AD 98 that the Swedes (Suiones) had no right to carry arms, but that the weapons were locked inside and protected by a slave only to be distributed when they were attacked by enemies. Thrall may be one of the following: See Thrall for the slaves of Viking Age Scandinavia. ... In linguistics, grammatical gender is a morphological category associated with the expression of gender through inflection or agreement. ... Slave redirects here. ... The history of Scandinavia is the common history of the Scandinavian countries— Denmark, Norway Sweden and Finland. ... The Viking Age is the name of the age in Northern Europe, following the Germanic Iron Age. ... Slave redirects here. ... The term Viking commonly denotes the ship-borne warriors and traders of Norsemen (literally, men from the north) who originated in Scandinavia and raided the coasts of the British Isles and mainland Europe as far east as the Volga River in Russia from the late 8th–11th century. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... An historian is someone who writes history, a written accounting of the past. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (c. ... Events Roman emperor Nerva succeeded by Trajan Tacitus finished his Germania (approximate date) Births Deaths January 27: Nerva, Roman emperor Apollonius of Tyana, Greek/Roman philosopher and mathematician (b. ... Sweden in the 12th century before the incorporation of Finland during the 13th century. ...

The system of slavery was supported by Norse mythology, which claimed that the thralls had a separate ancestry through Ríg. Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... Ríg is the name applied to a Norse god described as old and wise, mighty and strong in the Eddic poem Rígthula (Old Norse Rígþula - Song of Ríg). ...

A person could become a thrall by giving himself up because of starvation, being captured and sold, or being born into a slave family. The first was considered to be the most shameful way of entering slavery and was the first method of acquiring slaves to be forbidden. The most common way of acquiring thralls remained the capture of prisoners in foreign countries or the buying of such captured foreigners. As in the Roman practice of slavery, Nordic thralls could be of any ethnic origin. Furthermore a thrall had social status but to a lesser degree than other castes in the society, regarded more like a domestic worker. A female child during the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s, shown suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition. ... For the American magazine, see Foreign Policy. ... Slavery as an institution in Mediterranean cultures of the ancient world comprised a mixture of debt-slavery, slavery as a punishment for crime, and the enslavement of prisoners of war. ... The word Caste is derived from the Portuguese word casta, meaning lineage, breed or race. ... It has been suggested that servant (domestic) be merged into this article or section. ...

The thralls were kept as livestock and their master had the right of their life and death. One who was born of a female thrall by a free father was considered to be free, whereas those who were born by a free woman having a thrall father were considered to be a thrall. Sheep are commonly bred as livestock. ... Master is an English title. ... For other uses, see Life (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

When Christianity arrived in Northern Europe, there was increasing demand for non-Christian slaves, and the Scandinavians had a de facto monopoly on trading in them since Christians were not allowed to trade in slaves. Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe and includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... In economics, a monopoly (from the Latin word monopolium - Greek language monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service. ...

As Scandinavia was Christianized, slavery became socially unacceptable and was eventually abolished.