Lore:Skyforge

The Skyforge is an ancient forge built into the base of a bird statue atop a hill overlooking the plains of Whiterun Hold in Skyrim. It predates the city of Whiterun, which was built around it. 

The forge is known for producing Skyforge Steel, the most superior   on all of Tamriel.  Some steel weapons created at the forge are known to be imbued with lightning.  It is said that the souls of ancient Nordic heroes are what give Skyforge Steel its strength. The Companions traditionally hold funeral pyres on the forge; following the funeral of a great hero, the Skyforge has been known to "awaken" and allow high quality metal to be forged, equivalent to that produced by the ancient Nords.  
  
History
Following the retaking of Saarthal, the Five Hundred Companions of Ysgramor parted ways, with the band of each ship setting out to conquer all of Skyrim (then known as Mereth) from the Snow Elves who inhabited it. The first group to set out were the crew of Jorrvaskr, who arrived on the plains of Whiterun Hold. The scout Jonder the Tiny was the first to sight the great bird statue of the Skyforge, but the Nords were wary as the entirety of the Whiterun plains were uninhabited by elves. The band's elven captives looked at the statue with fear and claimed that it predated the elven habitation of Skyrim. They could say nothing of those who had carved it from its mother-stone, but it was known to drive a magic almost as old as Nirn itself, described as some remnant of the gods' efforts to render a paradise in Mundus before the shattering of Lorkhan. 

The twenty-two members of the Jorrvaskr crew desired to possess the statue due to the elves' fear of it, and so they founded the mead hall of Jorrvaskr, built from the wooden hull of their ship at the foot of the Skyforge. In time, the city of Whiterun grew around the mead hall, and its founders became the modern mercenary band known as the Companions.   The patriarchs of Clan Gray-Mane established themselves as smiths in the city, and worked the Skyforge since the clan first settled in Whiterun, passing down the tradition over many centuries.  Female smiths were also known to have worked the Skyforge. 

Following  's founding of   in the late  ,  the upper ranks of the Companions became infected with lycanthrophy after the Harbinger Terrfyg made a bargain with the witches of the Glenmoril Coven.  This tradition was passed down throughout the centuries via ritual infection of those admitted to the Circle. This ritual would take place at night in a secret chamber beneath the Skyforge known as the Underforge. Ceremonial bloodletting of a Companion in their werewolf form would occur, and the aspirant would be required to drink this blood from a central basin.  Several shrines to Hircine were also set up in the Underforge. 

Some time in the Fourth Era, the Ebony Blade came into the possession of the jarl of Whiterun, who attempted to destroy it. However, not even the hottest fires of the Skyforge could melt it; the coals themselves seemed to cool when it was placed within. It was therefore locked away within Dragonsreach. 

By  , the Skyforge was tended by  , said to be the best smith in Skyrim. That year, a gang of werewolf hunters known as the Silver Hand attacked Jorrvaskr, killing the Harbinger   and stealing the Companions' treasured fragments of the legendary battleaxe Wuuthrad.  Kodlak's funeral pyre awakened the fires of the Skyforge, which was said to have recognized the greatness of his soul. This allowed for the production of high quality metal not seen since eras long forgotten, and Eorlund used this to reforge the recovered fragments of Wuuthrad, restoring the battleaxe to its ancient form. 

Following Kodlak's death, the remaining members of the Circle embarked on a quest to cure his soul of lycanthropy in death.  Several of the living members followed suit and cured their own lycanthropy,  although others remained bound to the beast blood and decided to rededicate the Underforge shrines to Hircine. The three ancient Totems of Hircine were recovered from across Skyrim and brought to the Underforge for worship, heightening the Circle's lycanthropic powers. 

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Notes
The goddess Kyne was traditionally associated with the   by the ancient Nords,  although her connection to the Skyforge is unknown.
The All Forge at   is known to be capable of producing metal of a similar quality to the Skyforge. 

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Skyrim and   articles.

References