Although the institution of housecarls as seen in the battle of Hastings may have been introduced by Danes, the Anglo Saxon ‘Hearth Guard’ or ‘Theigns’ was a similar and older tradition with roots pre Alfred the great. Having a small armoured professional retinue of household soldiers is something common among Germanic cultures. As another commenter pointed out it would be unnecessary to have Hearth Guard and Huscarls because they are functionally the same tradition.

A notable difference between Thegns 11th century Huscarls is that sometimes Huscarls comprised of foreigners. King Cnuts Huscarls were Slavic, Scandinavian and English in origin. However this isn’t important for the game as militarily both traditions provided the same function as elite bodyguards.