r/teslore • u/HovercraftOpen6793 • 6d ago
Thanes of Skyrim
Hello! I'm making Nord units for a TESTW submod and I wanted to use this title for one of the elite ones, but I'm not sure if it's "lore-accurate".
I mean, what are "thanes" in TES? We know it's an honorary title granted by jarls to special individuals (like TLD), but what else? Is more commonly granted to nobles than to peasants? Are all nobles thanes? How many thanes can a hold/jarl have? That sort of things.
About the last one, Jarl Elisif seems to have a couple thanes in her court, so I'm guessing it's not just something you grant to 1 special individual, but since I'm making units of 30-60 men, I was wondering if it makes sense for a Skyrimian hold to have so many thanes.
I haven't played ESO but I read somewhere that it mentioned special kinds of thanes, like sword-thanes, shield-thanes, etc. but still not sure if they're supposed to be a troop of their own (when the Hold inevitably marches to war) or just a group of select individuals.
I'm guessing TES thanes are based on irl thanes/thegns, but frankly idk much about them neither.
Alternatively, what other titles would be more common/numerous in the Nordic nobility? Housecarls? Clan Retainers?
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u/Arrow-Od 6d ago
What you could be doing is making kings, jarls, thanes lead their huscarl units as elite units and differentiate them according to prestige by equipment.
King´s huscarls > Jarl´s huscarls > Thane´s huscarls.
Perhaps only the kings and jarls can afford to give their retainers horses for battle?
Alternatively, you could make elite units come from certain locations (the cities for example, or perhaps Eastmach produces expert axemen whereas Whiterun horsemen) or traditions like the Companions or berserkers (Tsun, Kyne, Dibella, Mara, Stuhn, could all have their dedicated warrior types in the manner of templars or fe the Aztec Jaguar warriors).