I think there's been some confusion in the definition of these terms on the digest. Most of the definitions have been right, because the two certainly overlap, but there is a distinction.
Simply, carl (or huscarl) is a job, thane is a political relationship.
Carl is (AFAIK)derived from 'karl' or man, literally a worker. 'Hus' means (here) 'of the chief's house'. Later, this came to be more specifically refer to the group of men that served as the chief's principal body guards.
Thane (I think it comes from the Saxon 'thegn') is a relationship, one of the "chief's circle". Eventually, this evolved to represent those freemen who held land and owed fealty (although this is a much later term, it works here) to a king or chief. "Weaponthane" is, as far as I believe a later (modern?) construct, as I've never seen the term or a direct literal referent in original source material, only in derived sources. Of course, I don't read old nordic tongues at all, nor even old english or old german particularly well, so I may simply be wrong.
So you could have huscarls that are thanes, and thanes that bore weapons would usually be used as huscarls in battle, but the two terms aren't identical. However, the huscarls lounging around the stead being obnoxious were unlikely to be thanes, and (except for kingdoms in constant war) most thanes were probably only seen wielding weapons in battles of serious significance.
Taskwise, you might send your thanes to a neighbor to negotiate a border dispute, and (some of) the carls to protect them.
Hope that helps.
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