THRALL  , a slave, a

captive or bondman, a term especially applied to the serfs (Lat. servi) of the early northern Teutonic peoples . It only occurs in Old English as a word borrowed from the Norse, the proper term in Old English being " theow " (peow); the Icel . Israeli (Dan. trael, Swed. trill) is probably represented by O . H . Ger. dregil, trigil, trikil, a slave, and would therefore be derived from the root meaning " to run," seen in 0 . Eng. praegian, Goth. thagjan, cf . Gr. r(AVM ; Skeat (Etym . Diet., 1898) compares the " trochilus " (Gr. apoxi)os), the small bird that according to Herodotus waits or attends on the crocodile and picks insects out of his teeth .