Sovngarde (Quest)

How to Defeat Alduin


When you enter Sovngarde and walk down the stairs you will find a Stormcloak soldier. He'll tell you that he can't reach the Hall of Valor due to the mist. In these mist Alduin hunts for lost souls to gain power. After you're done talking, follow the path through the mist. Note: You can clear the mist using the Clear Skies shout.

Note: the soldier does not always start in the beginning, and there is a good chance you will not find the soldier until part way through the mist. Do not worry, the mist will not engulf you as you speak with the soldier.

If you have killed Ulfric, his soul will be here, saying "we can't get anything done in this fog" and will tell you to turn back. Also, Galmar Stone-Fist can be found saying "Dragonborn, even in death you dog my steps?" "How come you're here? The king of this realm will cast you out - cursed be your name by all sons of Skyrim, with scorn unceasing."

Conversely, if you followed the Stormcloak quest, Rikke will be here if you killed her.

Also, If you have finished the Companions quests, Kodlak Whitemane will be here as well.

If you've completed the Bards' College quest Tending the Flames you can see Svaknir, who wrote the verse you retrieved, along your path.

If you've done neither of the above there's a chance you'll meet High King Torygg. It is also possible for Torygg to be here even if the above have been done.

Hall of Valor


When you reach the end of the path you will see a giant building on the other side of a dragon bone bridge. This is the Hall of Valor. In front of the bridge stands a guard, Tsun. He will test you if you're strong enough to enter the Hall of Valor. He can be quite hard for low-leveled players. If you are unable to defeat him, simply jump on the rock where he can't reach you and hit him with arrows or spells. If you plan on using melee weapons, move to the water source and stay in the water. Tsun is afraid of the water for some reason, so you can easily beat him by attacking him from the water. When his health reaches about 60%, he will yield and allow you to cross the bridge to the Hall of Valor. If you try to skip the test you will die when you walk on the bridge - even if you have god mode on with console commands. And a tip is to run and use storm call

Heroes of Sovngarde
When you enter the Hall of Valor you will be told to speak to Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, Hakon One-Eye and Felldir the Old - the three heroes who you saw defeat Alduin in the vision of the past. They'll be a bit further down the hall. Talk to them and they'll help you defeat Alduin.

If you wander around the hall you complete the Sovngarde quest automatically and start Dragonslayer quest. The three heroes still help you.

Behind the scenes

 * Sovngarde resembles Asgard in Norse mythology while the Hall of Valor resembles Valhalla, a giant eating hall reserved for warriors who had died valiantly.
 * Other characters wandering around the great feast hall will remark upon the food, mead, boasting and heroic deaths, and will particularly note that their god is absent, as his light would blind the player (who is still valiantly mortal). The food in Sovngarde can be taken or eaten by the player, the god's throne sat upon without incident, and the Ox Head at the feast can be taken as well (although it's not actually edible).
 * There is a Dragon Wall along the path through Sovngarde. It is blocked off with stone rubble, however, even after Alduin's defeat, and appears to be inactive.
 * You can meet High King Torygg on the left-hand branch of the path to the Hall of Valor. He will tell you about how he faced Ulfric Stormcloak without fear.
 * There are many references to Bloodmoon 's quest Betrayal at Brodir Grove The character you kill to grant him entrance to Sovngarde in that quest is Ulfgar the Unending, who is one of the NPC heroes in the Hall of Valor. Other named heroes include Erlendr, Hunroor, and Nikulas, the names of the three standing stones at Brodir Grove.
 * Inside the Hall of Valor, the player may run into Ysgramor.
 * Other named characters inside the Hall include Jurgen Windcaller, Olaf One-Eye, Ulfgar the Unending, Erlendr, Nikulas and Hunroor. Unfortunately, there isn't much unique dialogue among them; with the exception of Jurgen who comments on his disciples, the Greybeards.
 * If you freed Svaknir during the Bards' College questline, Olaf One-Eye will speak to you about your deed. "You freed Svaknir, a fool of a poet, but an honest enemy who has earned my respect." "Sadly, he's now lost in the soul-snaring mist - defeat Alduin, and his doom avert - I hope to greet him in this Hall as a friend."
 * The player will recognize some of the characters they meet in Sovngarde from either hearing about them or knowing them before their death in the story. Some examples of this are Ysgramor, Kodlak Whitemane (If the Companions storyline is complete), Ulfric Stormcloak and Galmar Stone-Fist (if the Civil War questline is complete and the player sided with the Imperials), and Legate Rikke (If the Civil War questline is complete and the player sided with the Stormcloaks).
 * If the player finished the guild questline for the Companions, College of Winterhold, Dark Brotherhood, Nightingales, or Blades, or the Thieves Guild, the player can tell Tsun that he/she wants to cross the bridge to the Hall of Valor for a different reason other than being Dragonborn. You WILL still have to fight him though.

Bugs
​setstage MQ304 150
 * Tsun might be 'undefeatable' at some versions of the game, e.g. He'll be bending down on the verge of death with a few strikes but does not yield. To fix this, use the following console command:

This will make Tsun 'acknowledge' you and allow you to pass into the Hall of Valor.
 * It is possible for Alduin to land on the ground as you pass through the mist and kill the soldier that told you to head to the Hall of Valor. He doesn't take damage at this time, even if you hit him with Dragonbane. This proves potentially problematic as he can prevent the Dragonborn from continuing along the path. Thankfully he eventually flies off and can be seen attacking some other poor soul around the entrance to Sovngarde. (Not necessarily a bug but worth mentioning)
 * 2012-01-16_00011.jpg mist may either disappear entirely or appear as a very patchy and crude-looking mask over the player's view, ruining the effect. (Observed on a system with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti immediately after the upgrade to driver version 285.62, January 15 2012).