Did we miss anything in this section? Is there something we didn't discover? Let us know!

Background

You can trigger this quest by reading the book Lost Legends, which describes how the archmage Gauldur was murdered by his three sons. You can also trigger the quest by reading one of three Writs of Sealing, which can be found on the corpses of the sons in Folgunthur, Geirmund's Hall, and Saarthal.


Walkthrough

The first objective you'll receive for this quest is to "investigate the Gauldur legend." That's a little vague, but if you make this quest one of your active quests, then a quest marker will direct you to Folgunthur, where you'll find Daynas Valen's Journal next to a tent by the entrance. When you read the journal, you'll learn that Valen has studied the legend for years, and that an Ivory Dragon Claw is important for some reason.

Next up, you'll need to enter Folgunthur so you can track down Valen. You'll discover him dead not far from the entrance. On his corpse you'll find the Ivory Dragon Claw and also Daynas Valen's Notes. The notes will expand upon what was written in the book Lost Legends, and they'll list where Gauldur's three sons can be found. You'll then need to travel to the burial sites and retrieve a Gauldur Amulet Fragment from each son.

The three burial sites are detailed below:

• Folgunthur, the resting place of Mikrul Gauldurson. As you make your way through Folgunthur, you'll have to use the Ivory Dragon Claw to open up the way a few times, and you'll have to kill lots of draugr. You'll also have to solve some puzzles:
  
  
  • Levers and Gates Puzzle. You'll come to four levers that control four gates. To open the gates, you'll need to raise the two levers on the left and the first lever on the right. The order you do this doesn't matter.
    
    
  • Levers and Chain Puzzle. You'll come to a room with a grate blocking a staircase leading down, a chain on the wall, and two levers next to thrones. The levers will open / close the doors to two rooms. Inside the room on the left you'll find three pillars that you'll need to rotate, and inside the room on the right you'll find the reflected solution for the pillars in the other room: eagle, whale, snake (from left to right). When you have the pillars in the right position, pulling the chain will open the grate and allow you to climb down the staircase.
    
    
  • Puzzle Door. You'll find the solution to the puzzle door on the Ivory Dragon Claw: eagle, eagle, dragon (from top to bottom).
  
  Past the puzzle door you'll come to the Folgunthur Crypt, where you'll discover the sarcophagus of Mikrul Gauldurson. When you approach it, Mikrul and several draugr thralls will wake up and attack you. The thralls are linked to Mikrul, and they'll die when he dies, so your best bet is to kill Mikrul as quickly as possible. When you loot Mikrul's corpse, you'll find his Writ of Sealing and his Gauldur Amulet Fragment, and also a Gauldur Blackblade (a leveled item).
  
  Note: You'll also discover a Word Wall in the crypt, which will unlock the Word of Power for "Frost, Frost Breath."
  
  
• Geirmund's Hall, the resting place of Sigdis Gauldurson. Inside Geirmund's Hall, you'll come to a deep pit near the entrance, and you'll have to jump into it to proceed deeper into the ruin. Then as you then climb your way back up to the surface, you'll encounter lots of draugr, and you'll have to solve a couple of puzzles:
  
  
  • Pillars and Lever Puzzle. You'll come to a long room containing four pillars and a lever by the closed exit door. To get the door open, you'll need to put the pillars in the correct position and then pull the lever. The solution to the puzzle can be found on the wall by the staircase leading into the room: the two pillars on your left should be eagle and then whale, and the two pillars on your right should be whale and then snake.
    
    
  • Bridge Puzzle. This isn't really a puzzle, but you'll come to a raised bridge with a lever right next to it. If you pull the lever then you'll only trigger a trap. To lower the bridge, you'll need to pull a different lever, hidden nearby by the wall.
  
  When you reach Sigdis Gauldurson, he'll teleport around and create mirror images of himself, and he'll use shouts and ranged attacks against you. But eventually you should be able to kill him, and on his corpse you'll find his Writ of Sealing and his Gauldur Amulet Fragment, and also a Gauldur Blackbow (a leveled item).
  
  
• Saarthal, the resting place of Jyrik Gauldurson. To reach Jyrik, you'll need to complete the quest First Lessons to join the College of Winterhold, and then you'll need to start the quest Under Saarthal to gain access to Saarthal. You'll find Jyrik in the deepest part of the ruins next to a strange glowing orb. For more information about how to reach and defeat Jyrik, please refer to the quest Under Saarthal. When you eventually loot Jyrik's corpse, you'll find his Writ of Sealing and his Gauldur Amulet Fragment, and you'll also find the Staff of Jyrik Gauldurson on a table nearby.

Once you've collected the three Gauldur Amulet Fragments, you'll receive a new objective to reforge the Gauldur Amulet. To do this, you'll need to travel to Reachwater Rock, which is located to the east of Markarth. Inside, you'll find an Emerald Dragon Claw, which will allow you to open another puzzle door (remember, the solution is on the claw: bear, whale, snake from top to bottom). Past this first puzzle door, you'll come to a second puzzle door. For the second puzzle door, you'll need to use the Ivory Dragon Claw (with solution eagle, eagle, dragon from top to bottom) to open it.

Past the puzzle doors, you'll come to Gauldur's burial chamber, where you'll find three amulet pedestals. When you place the three Gauldur Amulet Fragments on the pedestals, the spirits of Gauldur's three sons will appear, and you'll have to defeat them in battle again, in exactly the same fashion that you defeated them previously. Afterwards, Gauldur's spirit will appear, and he'll reforge the amulet for you. Then when you pick up the Gaulder Amulet, the quest will come to an end.