Hello everyone I love lore and like all of us I’m disappointed Skyrim didn’t go all in with the Norse/Viking stuff however I think at lot of it is still there in the background. Thanes is a cool little thing I think was underutilized and I love becoming thane of all the holds. I think there are more thanes than the game specifically mentions. I know eso much expands on the role of thanes and even though I haven’t played that what ive read has informed my opinions

So here is a list of npcs I think are thanes along with my reasoning:

All of the replacement Jarls- this is outright stated in Dengeir’s case, most of the replacements come from the nobility or rich families and/or are notable citizens who distinguished themselves in battle or something else. The exception I think may be Sorli since she actually works for another thane (Bryling) and just sort of seems like a temporary solution.

Hrongar- cut content seems to indicate he would become Jarl after Balgruuf’s assassination. He’s a member of a the ruling family and although that quest is not canon I still think he’s the heir until Ballin’s kids come of age. It was very common in medieval times to give heirs and other prominent members of the royal family titles so im fairly confident in this one.

Idgrod the Younger- Heir to the Jarldom of Hjaalmarch this follows the Logic of my previous one. As the heir she has been probably named thane and dialogue indicates she’s working to learn and prepare herself for the jarlship

Harrald and Saerlund- Laila Law-Giver’s sons and heirs. In Saerlund’s case he may have been stripped of his titles and duties due to his political views and thats another reason for his ostracized position but I think he was a former thane at least.

Black Briar Sibilings - Similarly I think that once Maven assumes power she probably distributes thane titles to her kids with the potential exception of Sibbi who’s in jail. So these may be potential thanes.

Thonar Silver-Blood - similar reasoning he may already be a Thane seeing he’s a prominent citizen already but I definitely think he gets after the stormcloak victory as he’s likely Thongvor’s heir presumptive

More contentious opinions

Rorik - the administrator and owner of rorikstead. He dresses in rich clothes and is a war hero. He’s also accomplished as rorikstead is the most valuable farming community in the hold. He lives in a “manor” so I think he may be a thane. He even has a steward/housecarl type person in jouane

Ainethach - possibly my most controversial one as he’s not a nord, however much like Rorik he’s the owner and administrator of the significant mining town of Karthwasten and is in a rivalry with the Silver-Bloods for it. He says he is the only land owning reachmen in the hold which is unusual but less unsual if he was given/purchased these lands as part of his thaneship. Perhaps like Rollo he was given land and noble title to placate the reachmen in the reign of a previous Jarl. This completely backfired but possible.

Possibilities I’m not 100% sure of:

Any of the important clans although I can’t find much on this other than they’re probably skyrim nobility and would be in keeping with medieval vibes nevertheless I think they’re potential Thanes (the Clan head at least)

The Battle-Borns

The Cruel-Seas

The Snow-Shods - This one is actually convincing to me one son is marrying the emperor’s cousin and the other is a housecarl Elisif even comments on how the marriage is politically advantageous

Children: I have theorized that Thaneships are at least de facto hereditary even if they’re not supposed to be by law so the various children of jarls may be thanes but if not i definitely think they will be named thanes when they come of age.

Also ESO revealed that there are types of thanes so by no means do I think all of these thanes are equal some may be “lower tier” thanes.

As you may have realized I spent lots of time overthinking this cuz I’m a nerd 😆. So no I will not take criticism (jk) please lmk what you think and if you think there are other thanes hiding about