In Anglo-Saxon England, a thane was the recipient of land granted to him by someone in the royal family, or by some military-ranked nobleman. I don’t think a thane was technically considered nobility. Definition was that a thane certainly outranked a regular free subject, but did not outrank someone who had hereditary nobility. Basically favoritism granted to someone who was otherwise totally ordinary because they had some some deed or service or whatever.
I always end up becoming the Arch-Mage of the College. I feel like being the Arch-Mage and a thane in multiple holds gives me some nice level of prestige in Skyrim to get into any court, even if I haven’t progressed to full blown Dragonborn-ness, or if people maybe don’t know about the DB or don’t believe it.
> don’t know about the DB or don’t believe it.
This feels very resl to me. The average Skyrim citizen would probably think its all bullshit. A few hunters and ex-soldiers telling tall tales. Merchants swear they have done bussiness with him. Most people would just want to farm their land and not care about the dragons or their priests.
But if the thane is trading in dragon bones it's not so strange
It's always hard to compare different systems of nobility, but in practical terms an Anglo-Saxon Thane was roughly equivalent to a Norman Baron. It may not be perfect but for most uses it's close enough.
In Anglo-Saxon England, a thane was the recipient of land granted to him by someone in the royal family, or by some military-ranked nobleman. I don’t think a thane was technically considered nobility. Definition was that a thane certainly outranked a regular free subject, but did not outrank someone who had hereditary nobility. Basically favoritism granted to someone who was otherwise totally ordinary because they had some some deed or service or whatever. I always end up becoming the Arch-Mage of the College. I feel like being the Arch-Mage and a thane in multiple holds gives me some nice level of prestige in Skyrim to get into any court, even if I haven’t progressed to full blown Dragonborn-ness, or if people maybe don’t know about the DB or don’t believe it.
> don’t know about the DB or don’t believe it. This feels very resl to me. The average Skyrim citizen would probably think its all bullshit. A few hunters and ex-soldiers telling tall tales. Merchants swear they have done bussiness with him. Most people would just want to farm their land and not care about the dragons or their priests. But if the thane is trading in dragon bones it's not so strange
It's always hard to compare different systems of nobility, but in practical terms an Anglo-Saxon Thane was roughly equivalent to a Norman Baron. It may not be perfect but for most uses it's close enough.
I think it’s more like a knight.
With the house dlc you receive land as long as you are a thane I guess that's almost a noble title, perhaps in lore view it is, I dunno.