Dragon Shouts



Shouts (also called Dragon Shouts, Dovahzaan, using the power of Voice, or Thu'um) are an arcane form of magic that was prominently used in Tamriel but has gradually become obscure; in Skyrim there are few who retain the ability to perform Shouts. The Dragonborn (Dovahkiin) is able to use the language of the dragons to great effect due to their ability to absorb the souls of Dragons. A minority of non-player characters also have the ability to use dragon shouts. There is a group of mages known as the Greybeards, who reside in the fortress at High Hrothgar, who use these shouts.

There are 20 Shouts in the game and each is performed by the vocalization of specific words of power. Shouts are discovered on the walls of old ruins, and gained by slaying and absorbing the souls of dragons. As more are slain the users ability to learn and use new shouts increases. These shouts have powerful effects and provide the user with a variety of abilities. For instance, one shout sends foes hurling away from you, another shout instantly teleports you from one spot to another, and yet another shout lets you conjure forth spells of ice or fire doing heavy damage. The player can choose to only vocalize part of a Shout which will lower the recharge time of the shout but cause the shout to be weaker. In an interview Todd Howard said every Shout has 3 words and there is normally 1 word per word wall but it appears that there are 3 words at the wall of the Shearpoint. Todd Howard has also said that certain Shouts allow you to be able to call on Dragons for help.

History of the Dragon Shouts

 * Talos was known to have had the ability to use shouts.


 * The Greybeards also have the power of Shouts.
 * Kynareth was the one that granted the power to use the Thu'um to the mortals.
 * This was facilitated by Akatosh granting the Alessian bloodline the power of the Dragons (i.e. use their language, steal their power by absorbing their souls).
 * Ulfric Stormcloak used the power of Shouts (Thu'um) to disable the previous High King of Skyrim in order to kill him. Thus starting the rebellion against the empire and leading the group known as The Stormcloaks.

Learning Dragon Shouts
Once a new shout has been discovered, a dragon soul is required to unlock it allowing it to be used. Access the Shouts sub-menu from the magic menu. Locked shouts are greyed out. In the bottom right corner of the menu is the number of Dragon Souls available to use. According to the Greybeards, a Dragonborn absorbs the knowledge of the words from the dragon's soul. Unlocking a shout destroys the dragon soul. In order to learn new shouts, the Dragonborn must slay dragons.

Dragon Shouts
Arngeir can be asked where to find a Shout by asking "Have you located any Words of Power?" Then a location will be added to your map and a misc objective will be added to your journal.
 * CONTAINS SPOILERS IN THE EFFECTS COLUMN****