Skyrim Golden Claw Quest - Door Puzzle Solution And Walkthrough ...

How to solve the Golden Claw door puzzle

Inside Bleak Falls Sanctum is a large room. Take the steps at the back, go left at the top and round onto the bridge elevated into the middle of the room, and continue on until you reach a long area with a puzzle containing a series of rings and symbols on the wall.

To solve this puzzle, examine the Golden Claw that you got from Arvel the Swift earlier in the Items menu (it's designated as a 'Misc' item). There you'll see the symbols you need to match - a Bear, a Butterfly and an Owl, going from top to bottom. Set these as the Outer Ring, Middle Ring and Inner Ring respectively, then activate the Keyhole below to open the door.

Head through the cavern, and up the short steps and approach the curved word wall inscribed with words to learn the Dragon Shout 'Force, Unrelenting Force', completing the 'secret of Bleak Falls Barrow' quest. As you turn to leave, you'll face a powerful Dragur who climbs out the coffin. You can get a few cheap hits in as he climbs out and draws his weapon, otherwise make sure you are healed regularly and take your time to evade and block, and he should go down quickly.

To leave the dungeon, head up the steps along the far left of the wall, where you'll find a switch that'll open a hidden passage. At the end is a way out back to the open world, where you can either drop down the rocky cliff face and make your way on foot, or fast travel. You can go straight to Whiterun to continue the story, but you may as well as complete Golden Claw sidequest first.

Find the owner of the Golden Claw

Travel to Riverwood and go to the Riverwood Trader (again, it's the second building on the right as you enter from the south). Talk to Lucan Valerius at the counter and hand over the Golden Claw. If you never started the quest here, ask if something has happened first to earn 400 Gold.

If you were also on the main story path, now travel to Dragonsreach in Whiterun and hand over the Dragonstone to the mage Farengar to complete the quest.