[10. THE ANGLO-SAXON CITIZEN.]
Athelstan (925-940), the grandson of Alfred the Great, and Etheldred II. (979-1013) were kings of England.
earl or eorl was what we should now call a gentleman of good family; thanes: nobles who for the most part acquired their titles from the king as rewards for services.
municipal: having to do with the municipality or city.
French: Norman-French was the language spoken by the Normans.
the meat and fish were salted: in the absence of root-crops it was found difficult to keep animals through the winter. Hence much salt meat and fish were stored up.
embroidery: the art of working designs on cloth in needlework.
spinster: an unmarried woman; so called because unmarried daughters worked at spinning and weaving for the household, making 'homespun' cloth for them.
marauding: roving about for plunder.
solar: in early houses the chamber over the hall, used as the bedroom for the master and mistress of the house. (See picture on p. [73].)