The Pole Star Will Change..., It does every few thousand years Options

[Mandrake]

The Pole Star once was Thuban (3000 B.C.), the third star from the end of the tail in Draco.

In a little more than 5,000 years from now, Alderamin, the brightest star in the constellation Cepheus, will be almost the Pole Star.

About 7,000 years from now, Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus, will be the pretender for the Pole Star for a while.

In about 12,000 years from now, Vega, the brightest star in Lyra, will be the Pole Star. Vega will be a brilliant Pole Star some six times brighter than Polaris.

There are long periods when there is no Pole Star at all.

At the present time there is no Pole Star in the southern sky.

[Mandrake]

The earth is tilted at 23.5 degrees, so the axis points at Polaris today. Over 26000 years, the tip of the axis draws an imaginary circle in the sky, much like the tip of a rotating top that is about to stop spinning.
During this, whichever star comes on the circumference line of this circle, gets the label of 'Pole Star'.
In the entire circle, there are only 3 stars that actually lie ON the circle, and hence are clearly pole stars. Others are only close, so they will not qualify.
Hence, Vega (Abhijit) (in Lyra constellation), Thuban (in Draco constellation) and today's pole star are the only true contenders. If you look carefully, today's pole star is such an ordinary star (no big size, no extra brightness) that it clearly satisfies the line '...some have greatness thrust on them'.