Dawnbreaker (Skyrim)

The Dawnbreaker is a Daedric artifact given by Meridia. It can be obtained during the quest The Break of Dawn that you can start by visiting the Shrine of Meridia. Once started, Meridia will ask you to become her champion and restore her influence over Skyrim by restoring her temple, which has been hijacked by a necromancer. She commands you to first find her beacon that is seemingly spawned into different locations for different people. Upon obtaining the beacon, Meridia speaks to the player, commanding you to take the stone to her shrine, which is located west of Solitude, almost directly south of Wolfskull Cave. Once there, Meridia will tell the player that there is a powerful necromancer defiling her temple, which the player must navigate through and kill.

Alternatively if you obtain the beacon before visiting Meridia's shrine and place the beacon in your inventory, Meridia will speak to you commanding that you return it to her shrine.

The dungeon itself is fairly straightforward. You will find pillars that you must activate in order to progress, shining the light of Meridia on the correct path. Several Shades inhabit the upper levels, and they are fairly easy to kill. Once you reach the end you will face the necromancer himself. Frost resistance is a must here. A good trick is to hide behind the pillars after you have dispatched the four shades in the room with him, and let him waste his Magicka. Use Unrelenting Force to knock him off his feet as he casts, or summon any familars you may have. Once he is killed, he will then spawn into a shade, which, compared to the necromancer himself, is not much of a fight. Once the necromancer is dead for good, Meridia tells you to take Dawnbreaker from the altar and return to her, she will ask you to wield Dawnbreaker for her and spread her teachings.

When near enemies the sword exhibits a bright glow. This weapon also has a very high number of charges, much higher than most other enchanted weapons. Since soul gems restore a percentage of charges, this weapon provides a lot more uses per soul gem than most other weapons.

Glitch
There is a glitch where you can receive two copies of the Dawnbreaker sword. When entering the chamber to fight the necromancer, cast a powerful Firestorm scroll. This will cause a copy of Dawnbreaker to go flying across the room, while the original still stays where it is. Pick up the copy before obtaining the original because this ends the quest. The best way to do this is to cast the spell after you have defeated the necromancer and his shades. Stand in front of the altar and cast the spell, the sword should be somewhere on the ground.