Complex sentence: "And if a merchant throve, so that he fared thrice over the wide sea by his own means, then was he thenceforth of" thegn "-right worthy" In like manner a successful "thegn" might hope to become an earl.
Split into simpler sentences: And if a merchant throve, so that he fared thrice over the wide sea by his own means, then was he thenceforth of thegn "-right worthy". In a similar manner a successful "thegn" might hope to become an earl.