Skyrim:Thane of Winterhold

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Gain the title of Thane of Winterhold. Quest Giver: Radiant Location(s): Winterhold Prerequisite Quest: Retrieve the Helm of Winterhold or Rescue from Fort Kastav or Season Unending or The Battle for Fort Kastav Concurrent Quest: Making Friends and Influencing People Reward: Title of Thane, Blade of Winterhold Disposition: =3 (quest giver) ID: Favor257

Become Thane of Winterhold

Radiant Options

This is a radiant quest that you can receive from either Korir or Kraldar, whichever is the Jarl of Winterhold. The jarl lives at the Jarl's Longhouse in Winterhold.

Quick Walkthrough

1. Befriend the Jarl of Winterhold.
2. Assist three people of Winterhold.
3. Return to the jarl for your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

This is an umbrella quest for several other quests that must be completed to become Thane of Winterhold. In order to receive this quest you must first aid the current jarl. If the jarl is Korir, then you must usually Retrieve the Helm of Winterhold for him first; however, if he was ousted from Winterhold during Season Unending and reinstated following The Battle for Fort Kastav, that is sufficient to begin this quest. If the jarl is Kraldar, whether he was installed via Season Unending or Rescue from Fort Kastav, then the completion of that quest is sufficient to fulfill the prerequisite.

Once you have completed the prerequisite, speak with the jarl again and he will ask you to assist the people of the hold. You must assist three people in the hold, usually by completing favor quests for them. Note that many of the quest givers are non-essential NPCs, so their deaths would result in a loss of potential quests to complete. If they die after you assist them, they still count towards your Thane status. You can also befriend merchants if you have the Investor perk by investing in their stores.

Winterhold Favor Quests

Highlighted quests can be easily completed without any skill use.

Quest Giver	Giver Location	Quest	Objective(s)
Haran	Winterhold, The Frozen Hearth	A Few Words with You: Do a favor by talking to someone about a problem. (radiant)	Talk to Ranmir about Haran Tell Haran that Ranmir is taken care of
Malur Seloth	Winterhold, Jarl's Longhouse	Some Light Theft: Do a favor by stealing an item. (radiant)	Steal the Staff of Arcane Authority for Malur Bring the Staff of Arcane Authority to Malur
Thorgar	Whistling Mine	Mine Ore: Get paid to mine ore. (radiant)
Ranmir	Winterhold, Birna's Oddments	Quest all Drunks Have: Make a drunk dance for joy. (radiant)

Note that completing Drowned Sorrows does not count towards this objective, as it does not affect anyone's disposition. Be sure to complete Ranmir's Quest all Drunks Have before starting Drowned Sorrows, as he is removed from the game upon its completion.

Winterhold Stores

Investing 500 gold in certain stores will count towards Thaneship if you have not befriended the store's owner by other means.

Merchant Name	Store Name	Store Location	Merchandise
Birna	Birna's Oddments	Winterhold	General

Other Quests

The following quests also increase the disposition of citizens of Winterhold, and therefore count towards this objective:

• The Black Star: Help find and repair Azura's Star.

College Quests

Completing any quest which increases the disposition of the mages at the College of Winterhold will also count towards this objective, including:

• Arniel's Endeavor: Uncover an ancient Dwemer secret. (radiant)
• Brelyna's Practice: Help Brelyna Maryon by allowing her to practice her spells on you.
• Fetch me that Book!: Fetch a book for Urag gro-Shub. (radiant)
• First Lessons: Join the College of Winterhold.
• J'zargo's Experiment: Help a student test out a fiery new spell.
• Onmund's Request: Help Onmund negotiate the return of a family amulet from Enthir. (radiant)
• Out of Balance: Purify the focus points for magical energy around the College of Winterhold.
• Restocking Soul Gems: Help Sergius Turrianus to fill his stock with soul gems.

Reward

After helping three inhabitants, the journal tells you to return to the jarl. The reward, the Blade of Winterhold, is a random, leveled, enchanted sword. There is a 50% chance that it will be a sword (one-handed), and a 50% chance it will be a greatsword (two-handed).

Bugs

• Completing Harsh Master for Kjar in Windhelm counts toward this quest because he is erroneously designated as a Winterhold citizen.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 2.1.2, fixes this bug.

Quest Stages

Thane of Winterhold (Favor257)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
20		Objective 15: Return to <Alias.ShortName=QuestGiver>

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 10, 25, 200.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage Favor257 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest Favor257.