shipfyrd

noun

shipfyrd

noun

Etymology Partial calque of Old English sċipfyrd, sċipfierd (“naval expedition, naval force, fleet, navy”), equivalent to ship + fyrd. Compare landfyrd.

Historical An Anglo-Saxon naval force or militia; naval fleet; navy.

This national army or militia was called the fyrd; the shipfyrd manned the navy.1965, James Westfall Thompson, Edgar Nathaniel Johnson, An introduction to medieval Europe:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.