noun.
A freeman of the lowest class in Anglo-Saxon England.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
noun.
A freeman of the lower rank among the Anglo-Saxons; a churl.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
noun.
A freeman of the lowest class; one not a thane or of the servile classes; a churl.
Word Usage
"Maybe it's intended to reflect a real or imagined class difference, with the ceorl class cast as hobbits and the eorl class cast as Rohirric warriors."