Volskygge
Map
Hold	Haafingar
Location	Far west of Solitude South-East of Pinefrost Tower southwest of Lost Echo Cave Southwest of Fort Hraggstad North of Deepwood Redoubt South of Steepfall Burrow South of Northwatch Keep
Type	Tomb
Sublocations	Volskygge Passages Volskygge Peak
Quests	Find the source of power in Volskygge Alteration Ritual Spell
Enemies	Volsung, Bandits, Draugr, Frostbite Spiders

Volskygge is an ancient Nordic tomb located in northwestern Skyrim.

Notable LootEdit

• Dragon Priest Mask: Volsung Mask
• Surfeit of Thieves (Lockpicking skill book)
• The Four Totems of Volskygge
• Word Wall: Whirlwind Sprint
• Possible place for Kahvozein's Fang: Quest item for Alteration Ritual Spell, a quest given by Tolfdir
• Two emeralds near the word wall

WalkthroughEdit

An option to skip the whole dungeon and simply grab the mask and word wall is to climb the mountain directly to the peak. Reaching the peak there will be a boss battle with the Dragon Priest Volsung. He will drop his Dragon Priest Mask, also called Volsung. One of the words in the Whirlwind Sprint shout is also located here. An Orichalcum Ore Vein can be found near a flowing river inside.

ExteriorEdit

Just before the dungeon's main entrance, there's a stairway down, to some sort of excavation. To the left, there's an entrance to a small tomb aside from the main dungeon. Beware when entering this, as there's a swing trap mounted in the ceiling. Inside are some loot, and two coffins. The right one has already been opened and there's a dead Draugr on the floor. The left one is closed, but can be forced to opened in several ways, most easily by placing a Fire Rune. This will release a leveled Draugr.

From here, a stairway goes up again, to the dungeon courtyard. A bandit camp can be found here.

VolskyggeEdit

This section is fairly straightforward with the only notable loot being a copy of Surfeit of Thieves found on a bookshelf. In the same room as the book there is a lever in a locked cage along with two Bandits. Pick the lock and pull the lever to reveal a secret door. Go down the passage and you will find a chest with some loot inside of it. There will be a puzzle to solve near the end of Volskygge; the riddle of the puzzle is described in the book The Four Totems of Volskygge and goes as follows:

The first fears all, the second fears none.

The third eats what it can, preferably number one.

The fourth fears the second, but only when alone.

All must be activated in order, if you wish to go home.

Solution

Snake, Bear, Fox, Wolf.

The Snake fears all, The Bear fears none.

The Fox eats what it can, Preferably the Snake.

The Wolf fears the Bear, But only when it's separated from its pack.

HOWEVER: Once this doorway is opened, the door in which you came in will be locked. The only way out of the Volskygge will be to continue on the passage, and ultimately battle a high-leveled Draugr.

To continue, go through the passage, there should be a chest, and a lever in the wall that opens a secret passage to minor loot. Then, go down the wooden spiral stairs and through the passage. Open the door to get to the next area.

Volskygge PassagesEdit

Follow the corridor down stairs and into a room. Grab the Soul Gem, and search the urns for (possibly) potions and gold. The lever just opens a set of iron bars to a little blocked off mini hallway. Open the iron doors and fight the draugr. There is a chest to the right in the back, although it is booby trapped. On the altar, there are two Soul Gems and a Skeever Tail. Go to the iron bars and pull the lever on the wall to the right to open it. Walk through (but be careful, there is a pressure plate activating a pendulum axe).

Down through the trap door in the second room, there is a lone draugr to fight. Follow the corridor to the crypt where he was standing and take a right. Up the stairs there are three draugr.

In the room with the trap door, there is a dead bandit, on the wall hidden behind her, there is a lever that opens to a room with another lever that will close the first wall and open a second. In this room, there is an adept locked chest and a healing potion on a pedestal. Note that once the potion is removed, spikes will come up from the floor. So go around back to avoid them.

Alternatively, skip the trap door, and go through the doorway at the back of the room. Follow it down and end up in the same place with three draugr.

Keep going straight, but be careful of the pressure plate, it releases a spiked wall that can deal lots of damage. Unlock the chest at the end to the left (apprentice level), turn right and follow down (fight two draugr), turn right at the end of the hall and there are two hallways, choose either, they both go to the same place (four draugr are here). Go up the stairs and fight another draugr. In the third burial chamber set on the right, choose whether to attack the bottom draugr (if not activated) before he "awakes".

Through the iron doors straight ahead, there is another Draugr Scourge. On the altar, there should be three health related potions.

Back through the iron doors to the right, there is a staircase. In the middle of the staircase, there is a pressure plate that releases a battering ram. In some cases, it will take out the draugr on top of the stairs. Follow the first path. There are eleven Frostbite Spiders before their nest. Once in their nest, go right and follow the path. Once out of the narrow corridor, cut the spider web, there are four more Frostbite Spiders. Go up the path on the left, and search the corpses. Cut through the spider web once more and follow the path. Turn left and cut through more spider web. Eventually, it will lead back to what looks less like a cave.

Go up the stairs and search the booby trapped chest (it's best to be on its left side, the booby trap is a battering ram), turn right and go down the ramp. In the room straight ahead, there will be two draugr and across a bowed bridge, there is another draugr.

The river flows out through a passage in the right. In the passage there is an Orichalcum ore vein and a chest.

Go through the archway and up the stairs to the left, but be careful, as there is a Draugr Death Overlord. After having dealt with him, loot the room and continue up the stairs behind the throne.

Open the door to Volskygge Peak.

Volskygge PeakEdit

Go straight out of the door and immediately to the left is a large set of stairs going to a word of power and the dragon priest. Go get the word of power (Whirlwind Sprint) and be prepared to fight Volsung. Grab his mask and the gold to complete Volskygge.

NotesEdit

• Closing the trapped door that leads to a pit with stairs below (past the spiked pit,) can cause game freezing.
• There is a spike wall trap past the pit traps that some followers are not able to get around. If staying true to the sport of the game by going through the dungeon and then up to the Volskygge Peak to battle the dragon priest. Alternatively, order a follower around the pressure plate and the wall.
• If you have competed the Thieves Guild Quest,Darkness Returns, and chose the perk of Shadowcloak of Nocturnal, using that perk, the Dragon Priest will not detect you.
• It is possible for the glowing words to not appear and so impossible to learn the word. This also means that the Dragon Priest and his mask are unavailable as well. To get around this use the Unrelenting Force shout on the priest's coffin which will blast the priest out of the coffin and slam him against the wall. This will also stun him for a short time and make the fight against him easier. One tactic is to also throw a Fire Rune in front of the coffin, which will awaken him. It won't get the word but at least the mask will be received (confirmed on PC). Learning Whirlwind Sprint as part of the main quest first before clearing this dungeon may resolve this. Also, all 3 parts of Whirlwind Sprint can be unlocked regardless of whether or not Volskygge's word wall shows up.
• Sometimes, if the quest "Find the source of power in Volskygge" is active, and Northwind Mine was passed through, finding the Aura Whisper word of power on Northwind Summit will cause this quest to be completed.
• If having problems dealing with the Draugr, it is possible to lure him back to the opening with the Frostbite Spiders, where there is a ledge that can jumped onto whilst he cannot. Then simply range/mage him until he dies (Note: he can still Shout, but infrequently).
• Another option to deal with the Draugr Death Overlord is to use Unrelenting Force shout on him in his starting room and aim it at the shelves in the back right side. He can get caught behind it and he won't be able to get out but can still be killed with a bow/magic. If he is in the gap between the shelves and the wall when killing him, he will still be close enough to search. (Note: He can still shout.)
• Kahvozein's Fang can been found in the chest by the Draugr Death Overlord.
• Sometimes Meridia's Beacon can be found instead of Kahvoziens fang if The Break Of Dawn quest has not been activated
• Once the puzzle involving the four animals is solved, the latter half of this dungeon can NOT be accessed again. The gate opened by the puzzle will once again close and the puzzle will lock. It is suggested that to stock up on plenty of items that can deal with Undead as well as plenty of health potions before entering this gate.
• It's also possible to skip the entire dungeon and go straight for the peak. When standing in front of the main entrance head left and keep scaling up the mountainside in a horizontal zigzag. This is especially useful for players who can take on the dragon priest, but have problems with the overlord. Jumping on the rocks should get you up to the top fastest. The player can also run straight up the slope if they have a horse.
• Traveling from Deepwood Redoubt and heading up the mountain towards the ruins to your left after fast traveling there will lead you to Word Wall and the Dragon Priest without having to go through the whole dungeon.

TriviaEdit

• Skygge is a scandinavic word for shadow.

BugsEdit

•  PC   360   PS3  The gate might not open.
  •  360    PS3   Solution: save, reload, and enter the sequence again.
  •  PC   Solution: use the console command tcl to enable no clip.
•  360   If you have previously completed the dungeon and discovered the shout on the word wall, and then retreated from Volsung, you will find that the next time you return to Volskygge Peak, Volsung will not come out of his coffin.
  •  360   Solution: jump into Volsung's coffin and angle your weapon (sword, dagger, mace, etc) directly on Volsung's chest. He will then appear and be ready for combat.

AppearancesEdit

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (First appearance)