Like I said in the 1st update, Thjorad can be used as a weapon in my patch.This automatically opens up at least three possibilities to keep it when you complete Sven's quest.
Possibility 1:
Just equip it and that's it. Sven won't pry it from your warm, live fingers. He only takes it if it's in the inventory, not equipped. However, Thjorad requires at least Might 60 to be equipped, so this might be a problem early in the game.
Possibility 2:
Place it in a bank vault. That's what bank vaults are for, to keep your hard-earned property safe from greedy Jarls. This requires you to complete the Orbs of Linking quest first.
Possibility 3:
Sell Thjorad, visit Sven, buy Thjorad back. Can be done in the 'secret' shop at the tavern. Unless you are GM or high-level Master Merchant, this will cost you some money.
In all three cases, Sven will happily accept the quest without noticing that the actual Thjorad is missing.
And finally, yet another possibility.
Give him Thjorad. When the Lindisfarne Monastery respawns, take another Thjorad. This works regardless of any patches. But without my patch, the game will prevent you from actually equipping Thjorad because it's considered a 'quest item'. So this is where the actual problem is, not with Sven.
