Herbetina's definitions

Thegne

An aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves. It is also the term for an early medieval Scandinavian class of retainers.

High ranking land owner, Lord
Shakespeare's Macbeth was the Thegne or Thane (Lord) of Cawdor

by Herbetina February 4, 2010