Dragon Rising

The Dragonborn's first battle against a dragon takes place during this quest, culminating with the absorption of their first Dragon Soul and soon gaining the attention of the Greybeards of High Hrothgar, who summon the Dragonborn to their presence.

Background
A dragon has been sighted at a watchtower near Whiterun. Jarl Balgruuf sends his housecarl Irileth, as well as some soldiers and a newly arrived warrior to kill the dragon.

Walkthrough
Follow Irileth to the Western Watchtower, which was attacked by Mirmulnir. Many men from the Whiterun garrison accompany the Dragonborn and Irileth in battle with the Dragon.

Use the debris of the wrecked tower for cover, or climb to the tower's summit. From either location, use ranged weapons or spells to attack Mirmulnir. Once his health drops to below half, he should land, allowing melee attacks against him. Irileth and the guards may be able to distract Mirmulnir, long enough for a melee-oriented Dragonborn to attack from the flank or behind. Beware of Mirmulnir's deadly Fire Breath shout.

Aftermath
After Mirmulnir is defeated, the Dragonborn absorbs his soul, much to the surprise and astonishment of the soldiers, who proclaim that they must be a legendary, "Dragonborn." Irileth, who is skeptical about the theory, tells the Dragonborn to report back to the Jarl. On the way back, they hear a loud sound. Jarl Balgruuf explains it to be the Greybeards calling them to High Hrothgar, and explains what it means to be a Dragonborn.

After completion of this quest, Dragons will begin appearing in the wild and attacking the Dragonborn at random.

Rewards
The Jarl promotes the Dragonborn to Thane of Whiterun, gives them the Axe of Whiterun, and assigns Lydia as their housecarl.

Trivia

 * Waiting to complete this quest until later in the game can be beneficial. The random dragon attacks can kill non-essential NPCs who still have activities or quests to be completed, make travel difficult, or simply become an annoyance with the frequency of attacks. In order to avoid this, the previous quest Bleak Falls Barrow must not be completed until the player is ready, as Dragon Rising starts automatically upon presenting the Dragonstone. However, since dragons will not appear either randomly or at Dragon Lairs, no Dragon Shouts can be activated until this quest is completed.
 * Tor is only mentioned during this quest. He was picked up and eaten by the Dragon. Whiterun guard armor can be found on the Dragon's corpse, and it is most likely Tor's armor. A "Hroki" is also mentioned, but there is no knowledge of what happened to him or her. There is also a Hroki inside Markarth, but this is merely coincidental.
 * It is not necessary to wait for Jarl Balgruuf to make his speech before going to fight Mirmulnir. As soon as Irileth interrupts Farengar, the Dragonborn can go to the Western Watchtower, and a quest marker will already be there.
 * Before starting this quest, the Western Watchtower is an unmarked location and is already destroyed, but without the fire.
 * It is necessary to complete "Dragon Rising" in order for Jarl Balgruuf to allow "Battle for Whiterun" to be started for either side.

Bugs

 * Sometimes Lydia, the housecarl, does not appear and cannot be found. To fix this bug, open the console and type:
 * Sometimes after killing the Dragon, no dialogue is initiated and no shout is performed.
 * Sometimes when killing Mirmulnir, instead of saying Dragon Soul absorbed, it says that the first word of Unrelenting Force was learned.
 * Sometimes Irileth will not run into Dragonsreach with info on the dragon sighting, preventing the quest from starting. This only seems to happen when talking to Farengar about the Dragonstone BEFORE obtaining it. Obtaining the Dragonstone before the first visit to Dragonsreach prevents this problem, as all the essential NPCs are already inside Dragonsreach. It is unclear if the bug only occurs in modded games (including official DLCs), or whether it is actually a vanilla problem. If the quest does not start, even using the 'SetStage' console command will not help start it.
 * This quest has a chance of becoming bugged if done at a high level (15 or higher, when Mirmulnir spawns as a Blood Dragon). Mirmulnir will kill the guards in one attack and sometimes kill them faster than they respawn, resulting in no dialogue initiated when the Dragon dies.
 * Mirmulnir's soul may not be obtainable. If console commands are used to advance the quest, dragons will not naturally spawn in the game world.

Achievements
Der Aufstieg des Drachen El ascenso del dragón Дракон в небе Дракон в небі