Where Bleak Falls Barrow is and how to get there
Bleak Falls Barrow is the Nordic ruin on the mountain west of Riverwood, technically inside Falkreath Hold. You can see its arches from the village. Cross the bridge on the north side of Riverwood and follow the path uphill and west; it bends around the mountain and passes a small watchtower held by bandits before reaching the barrow's front steps. Alternatively cut straight up the slope from the village if you do not mind a steep climb.
Most players come here twice in one trip: Farengar in Dragonsreach wants the Dragonstone, and Lucan Valerius at the Riverwood Trader wants his stolen Golden Claw back.
Walkthrough: enemies and the two puzzles
The dungeon has two zones. Bleak Falls Temple starts with bandits in the entrance hall. In the next big room a bandit pulls a lever, gets shot by darts and dies. This is the first puzzle: turn the three rotating pillars to match the carvings above the gate, snake, snake, whale, then pull the lever yourself. Past a room of skeevers a wounded frostbite spider drops from the ceiling; kill it and cut the thief Arvel the Swift free from its web. He runs off with the Golden Claw, so chase him down or let the draugr do it and loot the claw and his journal from his body.
Draugr rise from the walls through the burial halls, and a swinging blade trap and a tripwire guard the way down. At the end is the second puzzle, the golden claw door. Set the three rings to bear, moth, owl, from outer to inner, and use the claw in the keyhole. Both puzzles are explained with pictures in our Bleak Falls Barrow puzzle guide.
Bleak Falls Sanctum is a single large cave with a waterfall and the word wall for Fus, the first word of Unrelenting Force. Reading it wakes a draugr overlord from the sarcophagus. Kill him for the Dragonstone and the boss chest, then take the back passage that opens onto the mountainside.
