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Concept
Earl
Summary
Earl (ɜːrl,_ɜːrəl) is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word eorl, meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. After the Norman Conquest, it became the equivalent of the continental count (in England in the earlier period, it was more akin to a duke; in Scotland, it assimilated the concept of mormaer). Alternative names for the rank equivalent to "earl" or "count" in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as the hakushaku (伯爵) of the post-restoration Japanese Imperial era.
In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of earl never developed; instead, countess is used.
In modern times, earldoms have typically been created only for members of the royal family. The last non-royal earldom, Earl of Stockton, was created in 1984 for Harold Macmillan, prime minister from 1957 to 1963.
Ríg (Norse god) for the account in Norse mythology of the warrior Jarl or Ríg-Jarl presented as the ancestor of the class of warrior-nobles.
The term earl has been compared to the name of the Heruli, and to runic erilaz.
Proto-Norse eril, or the later Old Norse jarl, came to signify the rank of a leader.
In Anglo-Saxon Britain, the term Ealdorman was used for men who held the highest political rank below King. Over time the Danish eorl became substituted for Ealdorman, which evolved into the modern form of the name.
The Norman-derived equivalent count (from Latin comes) was not introduced following the Norman Conquest of England though countess was and is used for the female title. Geoffrey Hughes writes, "It is a likely speculation that the Norman French title 'Count' was abandoned in England in favour of the Germanic 'Earl' [...] precisely because of the uncomfortable phonetic proximity to cunt".
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