King Arthur in Skyrim?

Can you truly find King Arthur in Skyrim?

One of the things that I’ve always enjoyed about Skyrim is the open-world concept. Sure, I like to complete quests and story lines, but there’s something exciting about going “off script” and exploring the mountains and forests of Skyrim on my own. As I hoof it from one end of the map to the other, I discover new caves and ruins to explore, as well as some of the clever Easter eggs placed by the game’s designers.

King Arthur In Skyrim

Two of my favorite Easter eggs are based on the legend of King Arthur. You see, I’ve always enjoyed tales of Camelot, and T.H. White’s The Once and Future King was one of my favorite books when I was growing up. In fact, I like just about anything connected to the Arthurian legend (most recently BBC’s Merlin), and when I heard that you could find King Arthur in Skyrim I was naturally excited.

As it turns out, you can’t actually find King Arthur alive and well as one of the many NPCs in Skyrim — that is unless you download the King Arthur – Follower mod by Myth0is. When seeking King Arthur in Skyrim, what you really find are two key references to the famous story, both centered around Arthur’s sword Excalibur.

The Lady Of The Lake

The first Easter egg paying homage to King Arthur in Skyrim has to do with the Lady of the Lake, the mythical character who offers Arthur Excalibur. If you travel just outside Bleakwind Basin, a giant encampment west of Whiterun, you can find a skeletal hand rising from a pool of water clutching a sword (I’ve marked the exact location in the map below). Alas, the offered sword doesn’t have any magical properties, but nothing stops you from claiming the blade and enchanting it on your own. Do so and you can name the blade Excalibur.

bleakwind basin — The pointer marks the exact location of The Lady of the Lake.

The Sword In The Stone

The second Easter egg centering around King Arthur in Skyrim can be found in Rebel’s Cairn, a cave on top of a bluff northwest of Rorikstead (location marked on the map below). Right outside the cave entrance is an arranged pile of rocks with a sword thrust into the uppermost stone. Again, this is a blatant reference to the Arthurian sword in the stone legend. If you climb to the top of the rocks and pull the sword free, will you be Skyrim’s once and future king? I’ll let you discover that on your own…

rebels cairn skyrim — Rebel’s Cairn is located atop a bluff northwest of Rorikstead — just a bit south of Broken Tower Redoubt.

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Kongo Kannibal

10 years ago

another awesome article, thumbs up!

Shane Scarbrough

Reply to Kongo Kannibal

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Kongo! I greatly appreciate it.

Neelomkar

You’re welcome. I always enjoy reading your articles. 🙂

Egglord

7 years ago

From what I can surmise, the whole Red Eagle questline and the search for his tomb and sword is based on King Arthur and the search for a Historical Arthur in particular. Though Red Eagle’s character and life are decidedly not as noble as Arthur (unless you assume he was a really goddamned vicious pagan king, I suppose), such as his becoming a Briarheart in joining a pact with Hagravens to defeat the Nords, and pretty much defining what the Forsworn uphold as ideals (you know, like Daedra worship and human sacrifice and murdering random people in the wilderness); Red Eagle parallels the Arthur Myth in two key ways. For one, like Arthur is believed to have fought several major battles against the invading Saxons that were settling and conquering Britain at the time, and even fighting the Roman Empire, Red Eagle fought both the Nords invading the Reach, and the forces of Empress Hetsra. And two, there is the legend that both will return one day from death to rule their peoples again, essentially making Red Eagle the Once and Future King of the Reach.

hunter

6 years ago

i pulled the sword free from the stone and nothing happened