Becoming Thane Becoming Thane consists of a series of quests in , in which the Dragonborn can become a Thane of all the holds in Skyrim . The standard formula for each hold is to complete a specific quest , or objective for the Jarl and then help out a specific number of citizens within the hold , either by doing quests , miscellaneous objectives , or helping out in some other way . Becoming a Thane of a Hold carries several perks , including gaining a housecarl if there is property in the hold , and the ability to demand that guards ignore minor crimes . Many of the potential quest giving citizens are at risk of death from dragon attacks , and vampire attacks if is installed . To completely avoid this , after talking to the Jarl of Whiterun , simply do not return the Dragonstone to Farengar Secret - Fire , thus beginning the quest " Dragon Rising , " and only visit settlements during daylight hours to avoid vampires . No dragons will be encountered ( their burial sites will still be intact ) and vampires do not appear during the day so the quests to purchase all properties , except Breezehome and Hjerim , can be safely completed . Dragonsreach can still be entered as long as the Dragonstone is not given to Farengar Secret - Fire . Eastmarch ( Capital : Windhelm ) . Imperial Legion Questline . After completing the " Reunification of Skyrim " quest , Brunwulf Free - Winter will become Jarl of Windhelm . The Dragonborn must speak to Brunwulf , and Brunwulf will offer the title of Thane contingent on them helping five people of Windhelm and purchasing Hjerim from Brunwulf ' s steward . After these two objectives have been completed , Brunwulf will grant the Dragonborn the title of Thane , give him a random leveled weapon of Eastmarch , and appoint a housecarl to serve them . Stormcloak questline . After progressing through the questline , " Liberation of Skyrim , " and liberating Falkreath Hold , the Dragonborn will receive the option to become a Thane . This is done by selecting the " My Jarl , is there anything further you need ? " conversation option . Ulfric Stormcloak will respond that there is a place in his court for a new Thane , but the title can only be given to one known throughout the hold and that owns property in Windhelm . Regardless of the questline followed , there are two requirements to becoming Thane of Eastmarch : There are several easy ways to assist the people of Eastmarch : While completing " Blood on the Ice " is not a prerequisite of becoming a Thane of Eastmarch , the quest will automatically start upon the purchase of Hjerim . Also , if on the Legion ' s side in the Civil War , Brunwulf ' s bandit quest must be done to become a Thane anyway . Falkreath Hold ( Capital : Falkreath ) . In brief . There are many ways to become Thane as detailed in the section below . This is a set of steps you can take to become a Thane of Falkreath . In detail . Upon speaking to Jarl Siddgeir , he will request a bottle of Black - Briar Mead . If the Dragonborn waits to reach level 9 without visiting Falkreath , the Jarl will request to see them by sending a letter via courier . Starting the quest via letter will skip the " Rare Gifts " quest for Siddgeir . The starting quest for the Jarl to obtain a drink is a " radiant " quest that cannot be started if the Dragonborn is already on one of the following quests considered to be part of " Rare Gifts . " After getting his drink , the Jarl will give the Dragonborn a quest to kill a bandit leader in a radiant location . Upon completing this objective , the offer of becoming a Thane will be made . It is also possible to receive a letter where Siddgeir wants to talk to the Dragonborn . Assist three citizens of Falkreath Hold . This can be done in several ways , including : Because Falkreath has the fewest citizen quests of any hold , and because the town is so open to dragon attacks , if the Dragonborn waits until the mid - game or endgame to become Thane , it can be difficult to find enough citizens alive to do three quests . This becomes an even worse problem with installed , as citizens will also be attacked by vampires . Lod ( the blacksmith ) and Narri ( the tavern worker ) can be killed . Players can usually find the remaining quests they need by finding citizens who tend to stay inside buildings and by investing 500 gold in Gray Pine Goods using the Investor Speech skill . The quest objective for the Jarl will be different depending on civil war quests . If the expansion is installed ( and enabled ) , the Dragonborn may receive a letter at any time early in their adventures from Siddgeir requesting a meeting at his longhouse in Falkreath . If this is the case , if the Dragonborn goes to meet him , the first part of this quest will be skipped entirely in favor of the next part of the quest to become a Thane . The Jarl of Falkreath is added as a citizen so when the quest is started only two citizens need to be helped . Rewards for earning this title include the Blade of Falkreath , along with the standard Thane option for dealing with pursuing guards in the hold . Haafingar ( Capital : Solitude ) . In detail . Talk to Falk Firebeard in the Blue Palace and he will give the quest " The Man Who Cried Wolf , " investigating the lights and sounds coming out of Wolfskull Cave , which is located in the mountains west of Solitude . After completing the quest , talk to Falk again for a reward . Then speak directly to the Jarl herself and she will thank them and assign one more task . She will ask that Torygg ' s war horn be placed on a Shrine of Talos , as a tribute to her late husband . Take the war horn to the specified Shrine and place it at the foot of the statue of Talos , then return to Elisif . She will invite the Dragonborn to become a Thane , but only after meeting the requirements . There are several ways to assist the people , including : Once this has been done , return to Jarl Elisif and become a Thane of Haafingar and be given the Blade of Haafingar . Some time after Wolfskull Cave has been cleaned out and the Dragonborn has leveled up at least once , a courier arrives with a letter from Falk requesting a meeting . This initiates the quest to hunt down Potema ' s spirit , " The Wolf Queen Awakened . " It is not required to become a Thane , but completing it counts toward the total of helping citizens in Solitude . Hjaalmarch ( Capital : Morthal ) . In detail . Becoming Thane of Hjaalmarch is fairly straightforward . Investigating the house that burned down , then completing the subsequent quests , will cause the grateful Jarl to say that she ' d be happy to make the Dragonborn a Thane once " known through her Hold . " This translates into taking miscellaneous quests to help three different people , most of whom can be found in Morthal . Note that completing the quest " Laid to Rest " may count as one of these assistance quests . If the " only " reason for becoming Thane is to purchase the land for the " Hearthfire " DLC , it is not necessary to actually finish helping with the three tasks before being allowed to purchase the land . Upon finding and speak to Aslfur , he may have a dialog option for buying a house , at which point he will say that while there are no houses available , he can sell some land . The title also includes being awarded the Blade of Hjaalmarch . Similar to Falkreath , if this is attempted late in the game , it may be difficult to find three citizens alive to help , especially if " Dawnguard " is installed . The Pale ( Capital : Dawnstar ) . Thane of The Pale is obtained by completing the following tasks : The quest " Waking Nightmare , " which is begun by talking to Erandur in the Windpeak Inn . Then complete three minor quests . Alternatively , the player can complete the Civil War questline by siding with the Empire get the title from Brina Merilis without having to complete Waking Nightmare , though they still must complete the three minor quests . The Dragonborn must be level 22 to obtain the quest to kill a giant , which then leads to the offer to become a Thane ( after completing the three minor quests ) . the Blade of the Pale is awarded along with the title . The Reach ( Capital : Markarth ) . To become a Thane of Markarth , the Dragonborn needs to kill groups of Forsworn for the Jarl and his steward . Then they must retrieve Hrolfdir ' s Shield ( this quest is only given when at level 20 or higher ) . The Dragonborn must then help five citizens of Markarth and own Vlindrel Hall to become a Thane . Alternatively , the Dragonborn can side with the Stormcloaks and take The Reach by force through the Civil War quests . This will change the Jarl to Thongvor Silver - Blood and the Dragonborn will immediately be granted the permission to purchase property and become a Thane without doing anything else . The above is also possible if the Dragonborn negotiated the exchange of Markarth during Season Unending . The Blade of the Reach is awarded along with the title . The Rift ( Capital : Riften ) . Speak to the Argonian named Wujeeta in the fishery on the docks outside the city . Give her the Potion of Healing that she asks for , then ask her about her skooma dealer . Speak to the Jarl to begin the " Skooma Trade " Quest . Unlike every other Thane quest , at least 5 other quests to help citizens of the Rift must be completed " before " the Jarl will offer the title . When enough citizens have been helped , a new miscellaneous quest will appear named , " Speak to the Jarl of Riften . " Before the title can be accepted , Honeyside must be purchased ( normally 8 , 000 , it can be purchased with only 5 , 000 ) . There are a number of quests that can be completed to assist the citizens of the Rift . They include : Whiterun Hold ( Capital : Whiterun ) . The Dragonborn becomes a Thane of Whiterun as part of the main quest . After killing the dragon at the Western Watch Tower and revealing that they are the Dragonborn , the Jarl becomes eager to dub them Thane of Whiterun . After becoming a Thane of Whiterun the Jarl will award them the Axe of Whiterun . Siding with the Stormcloaks in the Civil War places Vignar Gray - Mane on the throne as Jarl of Whiterun and the Dragonborn ' s status as Thane is revoked . To become a Thane again , the Dragonborn must assist five citizens of Whiterun and purchase Breezehome , ( if this hasn ' t already been done ) . Speak to Vignar after he is promoted to Jarl about becoming a Thane . He ' ll award a Blade of Whiterun and grant them the title of Thane again . Winterhold ( Capital : Winterhold ) . Retrieve the Helm of Winterhold from a radiant location for the Jarl Korir , and then help three people in the hold . Alternatively , if the Legion wins the Civil War the Dragonborn can simply talk to the new Jarl and then help three people in the hold , thus bypassing the retrieval of the Helm of Winterhold . Helping three people can be done by : The Blade of Winterhold will be awarded , along with the new title .