Thegns and Thanes from aelarsen_at_facstaff.wisc.edu on 2000-01-21 (Glorantha Digest Vol 07)

From: aelarsen_at_facstaff.wisc.edu
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 17:46:01 -0600

>From: Andrew Barton <AndrewBarton_at_compuserve.com>
>Subject: Anglo-Saxon Thanes
>
>> While Gian is broadly correct that the anglo-saxons had a class of
>warrior-nobility that roughly corresponds to the Orlanthi Weaponthane,
>they did not use the term to my knowledge. They called them simply thanes.
>
>> As all thanes were expected to develop skill with the sword and
>commanding
>men, and to fight on behalf of their liege, the term weapon thane would
>have been a tautology - they had no other sort of thane.

Not quite. 'Thegn' or its later form 'thane' is an late Old English term for what earlier Kentish and West Saxon documents term a 'gesith'. 'Gesith' basically means 'companion', while 'thegn' means 'one who serves', but despite what are probably different origins, the two terms appear to have the same referent, essentially one of a body of men gathered around the king or other leading noble whom the thegn served. The gesith was almost definitely a warrior in essence, similar to the members of the comitatus in old Frankish society. By Alfred's time (c.871-99), the king's thegns occupied important government offices, helped the king keep in touch with the shires, and acted as royal agents. Fighting as part of a personal bodyguard of the king would be one element of service, but not the only one. Thegns could have thegns of their own, who served them the same way they served the king. However, it's important to keep in mind that the term is not primarily used to denote status but rather personal relationships. The social status of the thegn was determined by the standing of the man he served, and it's clear that many thegns were barely more wealthy than the average ceorl.

For Orlanthi purposes, it's not unreasonable to assume that there might be weaponthanes and other sorts of thanes (such as personal scribes or estate administrators, like the reeve), but there's no RW reason to ask for such a distinction either.

Andrew E. Larsen