Yngol Barrow

Description
Yngol Barrows is an ice filled tomb located North East of Windhelm on the south side of the river bank. It contains Draugr corpses and adept level chests. This area also requires the Coral Dragon Claw that can be found in the barrow itself located on a pedestal past a puzzle room. The final room contains Yngol's Shade, an undead wielding an enchanted battleaxe or sword, uses frost spells and may disarm. Upon defeating Yngol, the exit can be unlocked by removing the Helm of Yngol from the skeleton seated in the chair. As Yngol Barrows is used for multiple quests, Yngol's Shade may not always appear, instead there will be a Draugr Death Overlord or an unmasked Dragon Priest. This is apparent when retrieving the Helm of Winterhold.

As you explore around the interior of Yngol Barrows, you will encounter several eerie light orbs that hover and flit around you. They will begin to follow you around, but are noted to be completely harmless. From the way these light orbs seem to behave independently, they can be assumed to be some form of spiritual entity. They jingle lightly, like bells, and roll from room to room often bouncing or coming out of holes and cracks in the wall and ceilings, before literally pouring out of the Claw puzzle door. There is no apparent explanation for what they are, much less why they follow the Dragonborn. They will follow after the player even if no draugr are activated.


 * One possible explanation: The lights are spirits. Draugr. Once you open the claw puzzle you'll see several fly off then hear the noise of the dead rising.
 * (My follower called them ancient nord runes or something along those lines)

Pillar Puzzle
The player comes across the remains of a Dead Scholar and Pillar Puzzle early in the dungeon. The scholar's corpse contains a book titled Notes on Yngol Barrow. It appears he had discovered the barrow in his travels and had been transcribing the Nordic carvings in the cave for the College of Winterhold. The notes provide the key to the Pillar Puzzle:

Activating the level now opens the gate, revealing a Coral Dragon Claw on a pedestal; if you already got the Claw from Winterhold it will not be there. The Coral Claw is used to open the puzzle door, it's order is (top to bottom) Snake, Wolf, Moth.

Quests

 * This is one of the possible locations in which the Helm of Winterhold may be found for the Miscellaneous quest initiated by Jarl Korir of Winterhold
 * The quest to find the Helm of Yngol
 * Dungeon quest: Ashore in a Sea of Ghosts

Notable Loot

 * There is a chest located under the bridge in the room with water following the pillar puzzle.
 * The Coral Dragon Claw can be found in here.

Enemies
The following enemies appear depending on your active quest:
 * Draugr Death Overlord (Retrieving the Helm of Winterhold)
 * Yngol Shade (Retrieving the Helm of Yngol)

Bugs

 * When entering the dungeon, the game screen may become black . While the navigation bar on the top will still work and the player can do all movements judging by the sound effects, it is impossible to access any menues but the system menu. Quitting the game from the system menu may cause the game to freeze, requiering a reboot of the system. The issue can be solved by entering the dungeon without a follower.
 * If you enter Yngol Barrow with the quest of finding the Helm of Winterhold, after defeating Draugr Death Overlord and retrieving the quest item, the last gate will NOT open. This issue can be solved by simply exiting the crypt the way you came in.
 * If you try to complete the Helm of Winterhold quest after completing the Imperial path for the Civil War you cannot give the helm to Korir as he will not talk to you.
 * When arriving at the gate with the pillar puzzle, all three of the pillars might be set to the hawk emblem, and they might not respond when using the "Activate" prompt. This can be fixed by re-entering the Barrow.
 * If you kill Yngol's shade by shooting through the last gate, having accessed it via the door on the surface, Yngol's skeleton and the helm might be invisible when you reach the final chamber coming from the front. All that you can see will be Yngol's skull hovering in the air above the throne chair. You will receive the prompt to take the helm, though. On doing this, the skeleton will reappear and the last gate will open.
 * When arriving at the dragon claw door it may not activate, thus leaving you locked out of the final room. The issue can be resolved by going to the home screen then restarting the game. You may find then that the door is now open.
 * When speaking to Korir, there's a chance that you may not be able to complete the quest. His dialogue freezes and the quest will remain within your Misc. Quest listing.

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim