xxsuperasianxx Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Isn't a thane in direct service to a jarl? So having more than one jarl to follow would be wrong then right? Or is a thane just a status bestowed upon you? A sign of a famous person or friend of a jarl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankFamily Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 (edited) Afaik its just an honorary title Edited July 31, 2015 by FrankFamily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadeybladey Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 In terms of TES Skyrim lore it's lore-friendly. Maybe not in real-life, dark age Nordic and Anglo-Saxon culture. The Jarl was basically an Eorl or Earl (in English) and the next rank below the King. Thanes or Thegns were warrior-servants to the Jarls, where as Huskarls or House Ceorls were warrior servants to the King. Below the Thanes were Ceorls, non-nobility freemen allowed to bear arms and declared to be fyrd-worthy and moot-worthy. In Skyrim, you probably should not be able to become Thane to a Jarl of opposing Holds in the civil war, but that is just Bethesda's crappy coding. Being Thane to Ulfric Stormcloak and Elisif the Fair has obvious conflicts of interest. You can even become a Vampire even if you are already a werewolf, even though Vampires absolutely despise werewolves and would kill you on sight rather than offer you the gift of night as a reward. They put all this lore background in and then did not bother to code it, much as they dumped an awful lot of the civil war section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdcooley Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I do think it's silly and unrealistic to be a Thane in every hold especially with a civil war in progress. But I think of it as a special case situation. Since the Dragonborn has or is expected to prevent the literal end of the world, they feel the need to give you the title that is "mostly honorary" and the highest they can grant. Given the history of previous Dragonborn becoming Emperors through conquest the smarter ones are probably thinking it's in their best interest to keep you happy so they can remain in power after you build a new empire out of the one that's obviously dying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainPatch Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Isn't a thane in direct service to a jarl? So having more than one jarl to follow would be wrong then right? Or is a thane just a status bestowed upon you? A sign of a famous person or friend of a jarl? The way that Thane is described IN Skyrim, it seems that all a thane is is an acknowledge a person that is significant to the Hold. Such as a merchant that conducts LOTS of business (generating LOTS of economic activity) in the Hold. Or someone that has done something(s) that greatly benefits the Hold, like a Militia commander. Overall, it mostly felt like a medieval Chamber of Commerce to me. So anyone that is active in multiple holds -- like a merchant operating "chain stores" -- could easily qualify as thane in several holds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxsuperasianxx Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 Isn't a thane in direct service to a jarl? So having more than one jarl to follow would be wrong then right? Or is a thane just a status bestowed upon you? A sign of a famous person or friend of a jarl? The way that Thane is described IN Skyrim, it seems that all a thane is is an acknowledge a person that is significant to the Hold. Such as a merchant that conducts LOTS of business (generating LOTS of economic activity) in the Hold. Or someone that has done something(s) that greatly benefits the Hold, like a Militia commander. Overall, it mostly felt like a medieval Chamber of Commerce to me. So anyone that is active in multiple holds -- like a merchant operating "chain stores" -- could easily qualify as thane in several holds. Well according to that reasoning, you are right. It's just that I want to be a knight in my next playthrough and the closest thing to being knighted is being a thane so i was hoping to roleplay that the title of thane means something. But again, you could be completely right. In terms of TES Skyrim lore it's lore-friendly. Maybe not in real-life, dark age Nordic and Anglo-Saxon culture. The Jarl was basically an Eorl or Earl (in English) and the next rank below the King. Thanes or Thegns were warrior-servants to the Jarls, where as Huskarls or House Ceorls were warrior servants to the King. Below the Thanes were Ceorls, non-nobility freemen allowed to bear arms and declared to be fyrd-worthy and moot-worthy. In Skyrim, you probably should not be able to become Thane to a Jarl of opposing Holds in the civil war, but that is just Bethesda's crappy coding. Being Thane to Ulfric Stormcloak and Elisif the Fair has obvious conflicts of interest. You can even become a Vampire even if you are already a werewolf, even though Vampires absolutely despise werewolves and would kill you on sight rather than offer you the gift of night as a reward. They put all this lore background in and then did not bother to code it, much as they dumped an awful lot of the civil war section. Yeah there are a lot of things that require a suspension of disbelief to get through. I do think it's silly and unrealistic to be a Thane in every hold especially with a civil war in progress. But I think of it as a special case situation. Since the Dragonborn has or is expected to prevent the literal end of the world, they feel the need to give you the title that is "mostly honorary" and the highest they can grant. Given the history of previous Dragonborn becoming Emperors through conquest the smarter ones are probably thinking it's in their best interest to keep you happy so they can remain in power after you build a new empire out of the one that's obviously dying. Thanks for the input. I think you bring up a good point about this being a special situation. It just feels like the thane is swearing loyalty to one jarl and then the next day he goes and helps another jarl. In the extreme case, it would be like helping Ulfric and then Elisif. If being thane is like being a knight, it should be one on one then right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadeybladey Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Well, being a Thane has no real significance anyway. You'd need a quest mod to be a Knight and get special quests from your Jarl. The Jarls do send you on quests, whether you are Thane or not. Usually, they name you Thane because you have done these quests. All I ever saw from being Thane is that the guards would let me off stealing a tomato as a "one time only" boon, due to my rank and position. The rest of the time they were as abusive and insulting as ever, treating me like a common peasant and thief, like I was nothing to them, like I'd never saved them from the dragons and killed Alduin. This is the shame of Beth. As great as their games are, they have huge, gaping plot-holes all over the shop. "Move along, sneak thief." So I installed the mods that strike them with lightning whenever they mention where they got an arrow. Very useful at low levels for free gear. Any mocking jibes about me having my sweet rolls stolen had them polymorphed into one, which I promptly ate. 24 hours later, I would laugh at where they ended up after my morning ablutions. "Aw! Someone stole your sweet roll?" I would mock as I pulled the flush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainPatch Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 It just feels like the thane is swearing loyalty to one jarl I don't recall ever being required to make any kind of oath to become Thane. The jarl him/herself clearly states, "It's an honorary title mostly...." Sort of like being symbolically given "the Key To The City". All it is is the jarl acknowledging that in the Hold, your character is a useful and valuable member of the community. Note that the newly minted thane is NOT assigned any duties or obligations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sevlucent Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 I don't see why it wouldn't be. Dragonborn goes around traveling, does his/her good deeds in a hold. Jarl gives a title and that's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxsuperasianxx Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 It just feels like the thane is swearing loyalty to one jarl I don't recall ever being required to make any kind of oath to become Thane. The jarl him/herself clearly states, "It's an honorary title mostly...." Sort of like being symbolically given "the Key To The City". All it is is the jarl acknowledging that in the Hold, your character is a useful and valuable member of the community. Note that the newly minted thane is NOT assigned any duties or obligations. Ah I guess that just about finishes it off. The thane is nothing more than a status symbol. I was secretly hoping to ascribe meaning to it beyond that. I wonder if there are any mods that allow you to become the equivalent of a knight under a feudal lord, or in this case a warrior under the jarl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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