gallowglass means A mercenary warrior élite among Gaelic-Norse clans residing in the Western Isles of Scotland and Scottish Highlands from the mid 13th century to the end of the 16th century. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
GALLOWGLASS — [Noun] A heavily armored, professional mercenary warrior of the Gaelic-Norse elite, historically drawn from the Western Isles of Scotland and active in Ireland from the 13th to the 16th century. From the Irish gallóglach ("foreign soldier"), from Gall ("foreigner, non-Gaelic person") + óglách ("soldier"). Unlike the kern—a light-armed, often conscripted foot-soldier of lower standing—or the generic mercenary—a blandly transactional hireling—the gallowglass was a hereditary caste, a mailed fist bound by deep kinship and loyalty to a chief. He is the thud of a sparth-axe biting into a shield-wall, the glint of steel mail through a mist of peat-smoke, the implacable advance of a man who fights not for silver alone but for a bloodline—the last, brutal echo of a Norse world absorbed, and hardened, in the Gaelic hills.
noun
- A mercenary warrior élite among Gaelic-Norse clans residing in the Western Isles of Scotland and Scottish Highlands from the mid 13th century to the end of the 16th century.“The multiplying villanies of nature / Do swarm upon him--from the western isles/ Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied.”