Becoming Thane

After you kill the dragon in the Main Quest Dragon Rising, Jarl Balgruuf the Greater decides to give you the title of Thane of Whiterun, giving you a housecarl (Lydia), and allowing you to purchase property in the city. Guards will also think twice before arresting you if you inform them you are the Thane.

Whiterun isn't the only Hold where you can become Thane. This page is here to help you if you decide to take your lust for power to the other holds in Skyrim. The standard formula for the smaller holds (that is, holds like Morthal, Dawnstar, Falkreath, and Winterhold) 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 some other way.

Whiterun
As stated above, the Dragonborn can become Thane of Whiterun during one of the earliest main quests. Simply kill the dragon, discover that the player is Dragonborn, and the Jarl becomes eager to dub them Thane of Whiterun.

After becoming Thane of Whiterun the Jarl will hand you 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 Thane again, the Dragonborn must assist five citizens of Whiterun and purchase Breezehome.

Note: If you were already a Thane to the previous Jarl of Whiterun and if you had already assisted the five citizens and purchased Breezehome, speaking to Vignar after he is promoted to Jarl about becoming thane will automatically complete those quests and then you can just speak to him and he'll hand you a Blade of Whiterun and grant you the title of Thane again.

Morthal
Becoming Thane of Morthal is fairly straightforward. First, you investigate the house that burned down, and then complete the subsequent quests. The grateful Jarl will tell you that she'd be happy to make you Thane as long as you are "known through her Hold." This translates into helping three different people, all of whom can be found in the limited square mileage of Morthal.

You are also given the Blade of Hjaalmarch.

Markarth
To become Thane of Markarth the player needs to kill Forsworn for the Jarl and must be at least level 20. The total number of Quest are unknown, it may be random. Once complete the Jarl will ask you to retrieve his shield. The player must also help five citizens of Markarth and own property in Markarth. Then he'll make you Thane.

Alternatively, the player can side with the Stormcloaks, and blackmail Raerak. This will change the Jarl to Thongvor Silver-Blood and the player will immediately be granted the permission to purchase property and become thane without doing the quest for Igmund's shield or helping out the people of Markarth. This is the easiest way to become thane of Markarth.

Solitude
Talk to Falk Firebeard in the Blue Palace, and he will give you the quest The Man Who Cried Wolf, summoning you to investigate lights and sounds coming out of Wolf Skull Cave which is located in the mountains west of Solitude. After completing the quest, talk to Falk again and he will reward you. You may then speak directly to the Jarl herself, and she will thank you and give you one more task.

She will ask you to place Torygg’s War Horn on the Shrine of Talos as a tribute to her late husband. Take the War Horn to the specifed Shrine and place it at the foot of the statue of Talos, then return to Elisif for your reward.

After you have completed this task go back and talk to the Jarl. She will invite you to be a thane of hers but in order to be a Thane, you must first own property in Solitude and be known throughout the hold. This property can be purchased from Falk for 25000 gold pieces. Being known throughout the hold is done by helping out 5 of the citizens with their miscellaneous quests. Once you buy the property and help the citizens, go and talk to her, and she will appoint you to be a Thane of Solitude.

You will also be given the Blade of Haafinger.

Note: Some time after you clear out Wolf Skull Cave, you will receive a letter from a courier asking you to speak to Falk once more. This is a quest to hunt down Potema's spirit, The Wolf Queen Awakened, but is not required to become Thane.

Falkreath
This Hold is as straightforward as Morthal: Obtain a drink for the Jarl, then kill the assigned Bandit Leader. Complete three quests/miscellaneous objectives for locals and you're set.


 * Sell Veggies to the Farmer


 * Deliver the ashes to the Hall of the Dead

-Quest objective for the Jarl may be different depending on civil war quests.
 * Retrieve Runil's Journal from Greywater Gorge

Riften
Connected to the Thieves Guild Quests.

It is entirely possible to become Thane without doing any of the Thieves' Guild quests. Simply speak to the argonian named Wujeeta on the dock immediately 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. Complete this in conjunction with the usual "help x people" requirement and you become Thane, pending purchase of Honeyside.

Windhelm
-Complete "Blood on the Ice."

-Progress through the Stormcloak quests until Liberation of Skyrim: Liberate Falkreath Hold. Ulfric will then say the men have been calling you the "Bone-breaker" or some such and offer you the option to purchase a home in Windhelm and hand you a levelled weapon. Speak to Jorleif to purchase Hjerim.

Note: You are not a Thane at this point yet, but at least you have a home in Windhelm.

-After liberating all of the holds that were originally under Imperial control (Falkreath, The Reach, and Hjaalmarch), Ulfric will tell you that it's time to move on Solitude, to report to the Stormcloak camp, and promote you to Stormcloak Officer and give you a set of Stormcloak Officer armor. If you speak to him again, he will offer you the title of Thane contingent on helping 5 people of Windhelm and purchasing Hjerim. Once you've completed those two objectives, Ulfric will grant you the title of thane, give you a levelled axe or battleaxe of Eastmarch and appoint you a housecarl.

OR

-Complete "Blood on the Ice."

-Progress through the Imperial Legion quests until you take Windhelm and Brunwulf Free-Winter is appointed as Jarl by the Empire and then speak to him. I believe he offers Hjerim after you've helped X people in Windhelm (unconfirmed as I am doing the Stormcloak's line this playthrough).

NOTE : For some players the quest is bugged

Dawnstar
Thane of Dawnstar is obtained by completing the following tasks:

The quest "Waking Nightmare" begun by talking to Erandur in the inn.

Then complete three minor quests A fifth quest for the local museum also exists, but if the other four are completed it is not necessary.
 * Give a drink to Karl, one of the miners.
 * Sell ore to the iron mine owner Beitild.
 * Bring Night Falls on Sentinel to Rustlief
 * Fetch Fine cut Void-Salts for Captain Wayfinder.

Winterhold
Retrieve the helm from a radiant location for the Jarl, and then as usual, help three of the people.


 * Help the drunk in the tavern by giving him mead
 * Do the quest for Ranmir, the drunk in the tavern by talking to both the bartender and his wife about him.
 * Invest in Brina's Oddments.

Riften

 * After completing the skooma quest in Riften for the Jarl, a miscellanious quest indicates to return to and speak to her. When you're done, you are to buy Honeyside from her steward. Immediatly after, do NOT visit your house or purchase decorations. This will result in the dialogue option concerning you becoming Thane to disappear. Simply talk to the Jarl right after purchase and she will give you the title. You are then free to visit your home and purchase decor.
 * My playthrough didn't have any problems with buy decorations before talking to her.

Markarth

 * Occasionally when you first speak to the Jarl, instead of offering you quests he will immediately name you thane of Markarth, and allow you to purchase property and a housecarl. The circumstances for this ocurring are currently unknown.
 * If you choose to aid the Forsworn in the quest No One Escapes Cidhna Mine before starting the quest chain to become Thane the Steward may no longer offer you the quests required, making that route to becoming Thane inaccessible.

Solitude
You cannot complete the quest to become Thane or buy the house in Solitude if you complete the Storm Cloak quest line. This is due to Jarl Elisif being spawn some where unreachable on the map.(360) (unconfirmed? Spawns in Blue Palace regardless of Stormcloak Questline for 360)
 * Jarl Elisif will tell you that you may become Thane by buying a house and helping 5 people within her hold, though the quest doesn't initiate. Causing it to be impossible to become Thane of Solitude (though the player may still purchase the house). (360)
 * Despite being named Thane, it will still show up in uncompleted misc quests to help the people of Solitude, despite it saying you have helped 5/5. This doesn't prevent any quests though, and is but a small annoyance. (360 & PC) (Fix: On PC, use the console command "setRelationshipRank player 2" while targeting a citizen in Solitude, this will cause them to regard you as a friend, update the journal objective to 6/5, and auto-complete. Simply setting the related global variable will not update the journal, so this method must be used).
 * The quest to help 5 people (Assist the People of Haafingar) may get "stuck" (i.e. not update after completing quests for citizens), thus preventing the player from becoming Thane. Irrespective of how many people helped, the value may always read 4/5 even though the trophy is awarded for becoming well known in the region.(PS3)(Fix: Invest in a store with the investor perk.)