dreng

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Medieval Latin drengus, from Middle English dreng (“warrior, retainer”) or its source, Old English drenġ (“warrior, soldier”), from Proto-West Germanic *drangī, from Proto-Germanic *drangijaz, cognate to Old Norse drengr.

noun

1. (historical, UK) A kind of feudal free tenant with military duties, mentioned in the Domesday Book.
   In the reign of K. Richard I, the Theines and Drenges of Northumberland were tallaged. They paid each of them 80 much de Dono (o). 1711, “Chapter XVII: Of Tallage”, in Thomas Madox, The Hiſtory and Antiquities of the Exchequer of the Kings of England, London: John Matthews, page 480
   Accordingly, long after the Conquest, the Thegns and Drengs of Northumberland, and the Drengs, Thegns, and Villeins of the bishopric of Durham, continued to be tallaged. 1862, “Appendix T: The Laws of King Henry the First”, in E. William Robertson, Scotland Under Her Early Kings: A History of the Kingdom to the Close of the 13th Century, volume 2, Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas, page 513
   It is significant that, as Map 2 shows, the main concentrations of thegns and drengs are in the east of the territory that was apparently tributary to the Danish king in about AD 1000. 2000, “Society and Status”, in Birgit Sawyer, The Viking-age Rune-stones: Custom and Commemoration in Early Medieval Scandinavia, Oxford University Press, page 106