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The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is packed full of important items that are necessary to complete quests and dungeons, and claws are one of the most common items you can use for these purposes. You can use each claw to open a door inside a dungeon, and there are a few quests that revolve around them as well.
The Sapphire Dragon Claw is a useful item necessary to clear the Shroud Hearth Barrow dungeon, but getting it is a bit tricky if you don't know where to go. Here's everything you need to know about where to get the Sapphire Dragon Claw, how to use it, and what to do with it after finishing Shroud Hearth Barrow.
Updated on April 7, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: Skyrim's eternal, so guides like this one get a good deal of mileage here. We're proud of that, and we take every opportunity to tidy stuff up to a modern standard - we've added a couple more screenshots and clarified some information in this latest update.
How To Get The Sapphire Dragon Claw
Before you can get your hands on the Sapphire Dragon Claw to sell or use, you need to follow a few steps.
Travel To Ivarstead
The first thing you need to do is travel to the village of Ivarstead. This town is east of Whiterun and west of Riften. You can find the exact location of Ivarstead on the map above. There aren't many enemies surrounding Ivarstead, so you usually won't encounter any major threats while traveling to it except for bandits and wildlife.
Enter Shroud Hearth Barrow
Once you discover Ivarstead, you need to find the dungeon on the edge of town called Shroud Hearth Barrow. This dungeon is famous because many people believe ghosts haunt it. The outside of the dungeon doesn't feature any enemies, so enter it and travel into the main chamber.
You can find out more about the local legends of Shroud Hearth Barrow by speaking to Wilhelm inside Ivarstead's Vilemyr Inn.
Walk down a staircase, and you'll find a few pieces of loot as well as dead Draugr. There are a few traps hidden around the dungeon's interior, so stay aware of your surroundings at all times. You'll hear a ghostly voice telling you to leave Shroud Hearth Barrow, but don't listen to it and travel deeper into the dungeon.
Eventually, you'll encounter a small room that's home to Wyndelius Gatharian. He appears as a spectral enemy, but he isn't actually a ghost. Wyndelius is stronger than a regular human, but he doesn't have any companions, so it's an easy fight.
He primarily uses Destruction magic to deal damage. Defeat Wyndelius using your preferred combat type and loot his body for a few treasures. Once he dies, he'll lose the spectral glow, and his body will return to a normal state.
You'll find a Philter Of The Phantom potion on the nearby table, which reveals that Wyndelius was using this mixture to appear spectral. Next to the potion is Wyndelius's Journal. This journal is the item you'll need to get the Sapphire Dragon Claw, so make sure to pick it up before exiting Shroud Hearth Barrow through the same door you used to enter the dungeon.
Leave Shroud Hearth Barrow And Enter Vilemyr Inn
Now that you have Wyndelius's Journal, head to to Vilemyr Inn, which is also in Ivarstead. Speak to the Innkeeper named Wilhelm, and after a brief conversation, he'll trade you the Sapphire Dragon Claw for Wyndelius's Journal.
You don't have to pay any gold to get the claw - nice. Now that you have the Sapphire Dragon Claw, you can use it to progress deeper inside Shroud Hearth Barrow.
How To Use The Sapphire Dragon Claw
After getting the Sapphire Dragon Claw, re-enter Shroud Hearth Barrow and travel down to the door with the three changeable symbols. Switch the symbols to have the same pattern as the Sapphire Dragon Claw.
The top symbol is a Butterfly, the middle symbol should be an Owl, and the correct bottom symbol is a Wolf.
Once you switch the symbols to the correct order, press on the "Activate Keyhole" button, and the door will open. You can now continue your adventure in Shroud Hearth Barrow. After the door opens, you'll encounter multiple Draugr, so prepare for a battle.
What To Do With The Sapphire Dragon Claw Afterward
Once you've used the Sapphire Dragon Claw in Shroud Hearth Barrow, you don't need it anymore. There are two things you can do with the Sapphire Dragon Claw. The first is to display the claw inside your house. Although the Sapphire Dragon Claw doesn't have any functional use, it's a pretty object that works well as decoration.
The second thing you can do with the Sapphire Dragon Claw is to sell it to a merchant. Every claw in Skyrim is worth quite a lot; however, the Sapphire Dragon Claw is one of the most expensive at a base value of 500 Gold. The value of the claw changes depending on your Speech skill.
Many merchants will buy the Sapphire Dragon Claw, including Lucan Valerius at the Riverwood Trader and Belethor in Belethor's General Goods in Whiterun.