thane
The heroic epic poem Beowulf and William Shakespeare's Macbeth contain several vocabulary words, and familiarizing yourself with their definitions might make the works easier to understand.
The Beowulf quotes were taken from Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney, and the Macbeth quotes were retrieved using Open Source Shakespeare.
- thane
- (noun) In medieval Scottish and Anglo-Saxon history: a chief of a clan; a land owner, chiefly one granted land in return for military service
Beowulf
p. 109: "He inspected the vault: with sword held high, its hilt raised to guard and threaten, Hygelac's thane scouted by the wall in Grendel's wake." ("Hygelac's thane" refers to Beowulf.)
Macbeth
Macbeth meets three witches who offer him prophecies concerning his rank, thereby beginning …
