Housecarl

The Hearth-Guard

The housecarl was the elite household warrior of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon lords, bound by sacred oath to defend his master to the death. A professional axeman wielding the fearsome two-handed Danish axe, he formed the disciplined core of a king's army. At Hastings in 1066, the housecarls of Harold Godwinson held the shield-wall against the Norman onslaught until, with their king slain, the line at last gave way.