Ætheling

Ætheling (/ˈæθəlɪŋ/; also spelt aetheling, atheling or etheling) was an Old English term (æþeling) used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship.

During the earliest years of the Anglo-Saxon rule in England, the word ætheling was probably used to denote any person of noble birth.

According to a document which probably dates from the 10th century, the weregild of an ætheling was fixed at 15,000 thrymsas, or 11,250 shillings, which was equal to that of an archbishop and one-half of that of a king.

Since many early Scandinavian kings were chosen by competition or election, rather than primogeniture, the term may have been reserved for a person qualified to compete for the kingship.

[4] The historian Dáibhí Ó Cróinín has proposed that the idea of the rígdomna in early medieval Ireland was adopted from the Anglo-Saxon, specifically Northumbrian, concept of the ætheling.