þægn (OSw) þegn (ON) þiængn (OSw) noun

A type of free man, possibly one who had the right to attend assemblies. Later someone who was subject to a king or prince; a liegeman. Þegn, along with drengr (see drænger), is thought to have held the connotation of an honourable or upright man. It has also been assumed that a þegn earlier referred to a type of warrior or a general type of free person, but an alternative etymology suggests that a þegn was a type of servant or slave. At least one MS variant of þegn reads þjónar (servants, see þjónn), and þegn has been used to gloss Lat. servus. The Nordic þegn bears some similarity to the OE þegn, but it is unclear how the two are connected, particularly since both terms are often used in poetic contexts. In Scandinavian-controlled areas of England, a þegn ranked under a hölðr (q.v.). In later Anglo-Saxon England a þegn eventually came to be mean magnates (i.e. owners of large landholdings) who received their lands as a reward for war service, but this does not seem to have been the case in the Nordic areas. Much of the research on the term þegn to date focuses on evidence found on runestones, where the term has been interpreted as something akin to ‘member of a royal retinue’. Both þegn and drengr have at times been viewed as a type of military or social rank, but this hypothesis seems to be losing favour. It has been postulated that a Danish þegn referred to someone who had given an oath of fealty to the king and perhaps served as some sort of royal official. In some instances (e.g. Jb Kge 26) þegn is used as a synonym for þegngildi, a type of fine paid to the king.

dues to be paid for a subject of the crown OIce Jó Kge 26, 29
free man ONorw GuL Llb, Mhb, Olb, Leb
OSw ÄVgL Md
OSw YVgL Drb
good man and true OIce Grg Þsþ 20, 45
man ONorw FrL Intr 8 Bvb 1
subject OIce Jó MagBref Mah 2 Fml 14
OIce Js Kdb 4, 5 Mah 5, 7 Þjb 9
thane ONorw FrL Mhb 5 Refs:

CV s.v. þegn; F s.v. þegn; GAO s.v. Untertan; Goetting 2006; KLNM s.v. þegn; NF s.v. thegn; NGL V s.v. þegn; ONP s.v. þegn; Orning 2008, 73, 80; Sundkvist 2008; Syrett 2000