Thingmen - Wikipedia

The 12th century Danish chronicler Sven Aggesen told a story of how these men were selected. According to this tale, Cnut had attracted a large number of men and many had not had the opportunity to distinguish themselves in battle.[10] Consequently, he decided to select those that were the most prominent in origin or wealth[10] in order to form a royal bodyguard.[11] Therefore, he had a herald proclaim that only those who had especially valuable weapons would have the distinction of counting themselves among the king’s housecarls.[11] After this proclamation, those who were less affluent retired while the successful warriors, who had gathered considerable amounts of spoils of war, used their wealth to embellish their weaponry with gold and silver.[11] He selected 3,000 men who were thenceforth the Thingmen.[11]

The Thingmen had their own laws, which enforced quality within the unit, even going so far as to make the men equal to the king.[11]