Celebrity English

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 his murderous, power-hungry descent into madness.

First Witch: "All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!"

Second Witch: "All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!"

Macbeth: "Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis; But how of Cawdor?"