Where does the name THANE come from?
THANE is the Viking term for Captain. Eventually the Thanes came ashore in Scotland, chased the Scots up the hill and became landowners. They had Thanedoms and Thanesses. Then William the Conqueror stuck it to King Harry at the battle of Hastings and the title was lost to Earls and Dukes. Shakespeare’s MacBeth was referred to as the the THANE of Cawdor and the THANE of Glamis.
