thegn

Every merchant who had made three long voyages on his own behalf and at his own cost ranked as a thegn.

Dark was the scowl on the brow of every thegn, and a muttered "No, no: never the Norman!"

Preserved by the devotion of his thegn Lilla, Edwin vowed to become a Christian if victorious over his treacherous enemy.

The thegn no longer lives in his lords court; he is a warrior endowed with land.