Geirmund's Hall (Skyrim)

Located east of Ivarstead, on an island in the middle of Lake Geir, it is the burial ground of Lord Geirmund, Arch-Mage of Windhelm, Lord Battlemage to King Harald. Sigdis Gauldurson is sealed here as an undead as punishment for betrayal and murder.

Notable loot

 * A Petty Soul Gem, Potion of Waterbreathing, and a chest with some Gold can be found in a hidden underwater chamber of the first cavern. To open see Walkthrough Help section.
 * A Soul Gem can be found in a half-buried pot in front of an altar in the room beyond Geirmund's corpse.
 * An (expert) locked chest in a small alcove that can be reached by using Whirlwind Sprint to the right of Geirmund's corpse or by dropping down to the right before crossing the drawbridge.
 * Gauldur Blackbow - An enchanted Ancient Nord Bow that absorbs Magicka.
 * Gauldur Amulet Fragment - An amulet that increases Stamina by 30.
 * A boss chest after defeating Sigdis Gauldurson containing random levled loot
 * The Two-Handed Skill Book Words and Philosophy is located in the room with the boss chest on the exit path.

Walkthrough

 * To access the hidden underwater chamber open the door by activating the raised stone underwater, immediately below the entrance hole.
 * The door code is bird, whale, snake, whale in the order seen, (the third one is behind the skull).
 * There are two levers near the drawbridge. The most obvious on the ground activates a trap, the second is behind the Dragonborn when facing the drawbridge, obscured by a the cave wall, (directly behind when facing the bridge standing behind the first lever), lowers the drawbridge.
 * After lowering the bridge, down to the right at the start of the bridge is a broken ledge. Jump down and open a door to find a locked chest guarded by a fire blasting soul gem. The gem is activated as a trap on the door. This is one of the few trapped doors in the game.

Boss Fight

 * Sigdis Gauldurson makes for a challenging boss fight at the end of the dungeon as he clones himself and uses Unrelenting Force shouts while he and his clones attack at range.
 * If the player uses a ranged weapon against Sigdis Gauldurson, it is likely to be disarmed after a shot or two, and may fall out of the map. To avoid losing a favored weapon, do not equip it during the fight. If the player can remain hidden while using a ranged weapon however, this won't happen. Melee weapons may also be removed by his shout.
 * This boss fight can be used to level Sneak, Archery and Conjuration. This can be done by hiding behind a stone on the platform on which the grave is built. Sneak behind this stone and one can shoot at two of the three possible places where Sigdis can teleport. One can also Conjure Atronachs unseen from behind this rock, training Conjuration. One may also use the rocks to the left of the platform jumped from to enter the final chamber. Once the boss begins to climb into his coffin, get back onto the raised area. Once up there, neither Sigdis nor his clones can see the Dragonborn.
 * One can tell which two are his clones by looking closely and noticing that they have a light blue glow around them. Also, the real Sigis's helm will have horns and the clones do not. If Sigdis receives damage as he is coming out of his tomb, when he teleports he will be the only one who doesn't have full health.
 * If Sigdis is killed as he's climbing out of his coffin, no clones appear and no teleportation occurs.
 * Sigdis can be killed safely using shock destruction spells through the grid overlooking his hall before you cross the levers. Note, that the levers should be up and you need to open his coffin from afar, using a shout or a spell.

Trivia

 * Reyda's remains are not inside Geirmund's Hall.
 * There is no Shout to be learned here.
 * Once Sigdis is dead, exit through the tunnel just north of his coffin. At the end of the tunnel is a chest with some gold inside and some other items. Also, to the right is a bookshelf which has a potion of vigorous magicka and a copy of the skill book Words and Philosophy.
 * There is a (relatively) rare bird's nest on the island, on top of the tomb. It contains a single egg.

Bugs

 * The stone tablets may not spin when activated, preventing the player from progressing or escaping the dungeon. Reloading may solve the issue.
 * Sigdis teleports and never returns. Thus the fight can never finish. This will render the Gaulder Amulet Fragment unreachable, and the quest related to it impossible to complete. Reload and kill him with melee weapons as Destruction Magic attacks may leave no corpse to loot the fragment from.
 * The exit behind Sigdis' coffin won't open after killing her. To fix this, reload your last save and kill her again. The door automatically opens after she dies.
 * If the player enters Gerimund's Hall and leaves before obtaining the fragment, the Gaulder Fragment will disappear making finishing the quest impossible.
 * If player confronts Sigdis, he will not attack and if killed his body becomes inaccessible making the quest impossible as well as leaving the player stuck within the tomb.
 * The pillars won't move making it impossible to escape. A sign that this bug has occurred is that all the pillars will have the eagle sign facing out. (And because they won't move.)
 * Patch 1.4 resolved this issue. (except for the 360)
 * Game may freeze on immediate entry into this area. No solution is currently known
 * Sigdis may appear laying down on the ground and can not be harmed.
 * When entering the hall, the player may experience immense lag and poor rendering.
 * If using Destruction shock magic with the Disintegrate perk earned, disintegrating one of the three, (by hitting a shock spell whilst they are at low health), may result in not being able to finish the quest.
 * When fighting Sidgis, the game may freeze when he starts to shout.
 * The lever that activates the bridge above Geirmund's Corpse may not work. A well placed Whirlwind Sprint shout can get you to the center partition where the second lever should work.
 * If the player enters Gerimund's Hall without the quest being active, the fragment will not be dropped. If the player reenters after activating the quest, Sigdis will be there again, but the amulet dropped out of the map, making the quest impossible.

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim