Thegn

thumb|Ivory seal of Godwin, an unknown thegnfirst half of eleventh century, British Museum

In later Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn, or thane (), was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and ealdormen. He had to be a substantial landowner. Thanage refers to the tenure by which lands were held by a thane as well as the rank; an approximately equivalent modern title may be that of baron.