Glory of the Dead

"Glory of the Dead" is the final quest in the Companions' questline.

Overview

 * Prerequisite: Purity of Revenge
 * Quest Giver: Vilkas
 * Reward: Wuuthrad
 * Reputation Gain:

Attend Kodlak's funeral
Vilkas tells you to attend Kodlak's funeral together with the rest of the Companions. Find your way to the Skyforge where his funeral is held. All the members of the Companions and a few other Whiterun citizens are present. The circle members will begin prayers, after which Eorlund will ask you to pass him the fragments of Wuuthrad that you collected.

Retrieve Kodlak's fragment
After passing those fragments, Eorlund will ask you to retrieve the last shard of Wuuthrad from Kodlak's end drawer in his room.
 * If you attend Kodlak's funural late at night, it is possible that Eorlund won't be at the Skyforge when you return with the last shard (because people go to bed at night in Skyrim...). Toggle the quest as active, and you'll probably see the quest marker pointing towards Grey-Mane's residense in Whiterun. If you pick the lock you'll probably be adressed by a guard for trespassing (not confirmed). The best thing is to just wait until daytime and Eorlund will be back at Skyforge, and you can continue the quest. (360)

Meet the Circle
After you pass the fragment to Eorlund he will ask you to meet the other Circle members at the Underforge, which is beneath the Skyforge and you can access via the secret entrance Skjor showed you a few quests ago.

Go to Ysgramor's Tomb with the Circle
After you enter the underforge, a conversation about Kodlak ensues between the circle members. It ends with Eorlund coming in and passing you a completed Wuuthrad. You then have to meet the other circle members at Ysgramor's Tomb.
 * If you haven't explored the EASTERN main road between Whiterun and Dawnstar this might give you an edge. Instead of fast traveling, just run along with the companions and they'll help you fight whatever you should meet along the road (NOTE: wich foes you meet is random). When a tomb, tower, farm, landmark or such shows up on the compass just take off and discover it, then return to your fellows (they run with their weapons drawn, so they're quite slow). However, in the playthrough one experienced that the companion's AI fudged up around the area of Dawnstar, as they didn't know where to run and where just running laps up and down the mountain. Solved it by fast traveling from Dawnstar to the closest discovered location to Ysgramor's Tomb and explored from that point to the tomb by myself (360).

Return Wuuthrad to Ysgramor
Activate the statue of Ysgramor to place Wuuthrad into the statue. Doing so will open the pathway at the end of the hall that leads to the burial chamber. (Once you place it in the statues hands you can take it back without the passageway closing)

Get to the burial chamber
(NOTE: Farkas will stop when you come across a number of webs. If you ask him why he is turning back, he will explain that his last encounter with giant spiders left him disturbed.)

Put Head of Glenmoril Witch into the Fire and Defeat the Beast Spirit
Activating the fire will automatically place one of the Witch Heads into it. Doing so will release the Kodlak's beast spirit and a battle will ensue. Defeat the beast spirit to free Kodlak's spirit. The beast spirit can be difficult to see at times, so an attack that leaves a lingering visual effect (such as Flames or Fire Breath) will highlight the spirit.

Speak to Kodlak
Upon the successful cure of Kodlak's spirit, you will be granted the title of Harbinger of the Companions, making you their first true leader since Ysgramor himself. Before leaving the burial chamber, be sure to acquire the Shield of Ysgramor from his chest.

OPTIONAL - Cure your Lycanthropy
If you wish to cure yourself of Lycanthropy you may do so at this point if you defeated and kept more than one of the Glenmoril Witches' heads during the Blood's Honor quest. If you did not, you can travel back to Glenmoril Coven to defeat another witch and take their head.

Activate the fire again (which will remove a second Glenmoril Witch head from your inventory), this will release your beast form and a battle will ensue. Defeating your beast form in combat will cure you of your Lycanthropy (you can still use your beast form during the fight but will automatically transform back after defeating your beast spirit regardless of how long you have been transformed). The cure is permanent and you will no longer be able to contract Lycanthropy.

Note: If you cure yourself, the Totems of Hircine quest may not be possible to do.