The Anglo Saxon Huscarls

The Wanderer Anglo Saxon History, mythology, Folklore and religion

Founded by nut the great, the Danish ruler of England in the early 11th century, the Huscarls were modelled upon the Joms Vikings although new research has found that the Joms Vikings weren't as disciplined as was thought, and the Saga was probably embellished.

Cnut established them as a permanent body of professional warriors, They were 3000 strong. They attended the king and were maintained in 3 corps: two stationed around London, the third in the north near York. They were further divided into crews to man the 40 longships maintained from Canute onward, as a royal Navy. Thus the Huscarls formed a nucleus for any English national force, both on land and sea.

This was maintained by a special tax, on each “hide” of land. In later days, individual Huscarls were granted land of their own, which they lived upon and oversaw. Feudalism was spreading to England from the continent; and had the Norman Conquest not interrupted their evolution, in time the Huscarls would likely have assumed most aspects of the feudal chivalry found elsewhere; becoming England’s version of the Feudal knight.