skutilsveinn (ON) noun

The skutilsveinn was originally a waiter at the king’s table. This is evident from the etymology of ON skutill (q.v.). The word is derived from Latin scutella ‘plate, small table’. Gradually, however, the service at the king’s table assumed a more ceremonial character, which changed its function, transforming it into a kind of chamberlain and an officer in the king’s retinue and bodyguard, where the skutilsveinn ranged next to the lendr maðr ('landed man', see lænder). Together with the stallari (the king’s marshal), the merkismaðr (the bearer of the royal standard) and the lendir men he was counted among the hirðstjórar (officers of the king’s retinue, see hirðstjóri). In addition to their ceremonial functions at the court, such as (e.g.) administering the admission of new members of the king’s retinue, the skutilsveinar were obliged to organize and lead the king’s bodyguard (fylgð) and supervise its duties. The skutilsveinn enjoyed the same personal rights as the freeholder (hauldsréttr, see hölðsréttr, according to GuL ch. 200 and FrL IV 60). However, by the middle of the thirteenth century there was no longer any close connection between the title of skutilsveinn and its functions. The title itself disappeared 1277, when the skutilsveinar were knighted and received the title of herrar (lords, see hærra).

cup-bearer ONorw FrL Mhb 60
page serving at the royal table ONorw GuL Mhb Refs:

Hertzberg s.v. skutilsveinn; KLNM s.v.v. befalingsmand, drikkekar, hird, skutilsveinn