
Thegn Merton was a medieval Mercian thegn from Shropshire. He was said to have been a valiant leader, raising forces to defend the Anglo-Saxon lands in Shropshire from the Britons. In an ode written in Merton's honor, he was said to have inspired the local farmers to take up their sickles, hammers, and chains to slay several Britons, but Merton was overwhelmed by three Britons and killed. He was buried in a cave within the Titterstone Clee Hill in Shropshire, and his flooded tomb and his ode were rediscovered by the Norwegian Viking warrior Eivor in 874 AD.