Skyrim: How to Join the Bards College

The Bards College is one of many factions available to join in Skyrim, which consists primarily of bards, speakers, and poets. The college itself is located in Solitude, where players will have to travel to if they wish to join this faction.

This will unlock a new line of quests for you to embark on, as well as freedom to use college books and items as you please. This guide will cover everything you need to know to join the Bards Collect in Skyrim.

How to Join the Bards College

To join the college, you will need to first travel to the Bards College in Solitude, the tall structure two buildings away from the Blue Palace on the left side of the road.

Once you reach the building, you will need to enter and request admission from Viarmo, the headmaster of the college.

Of course, it wouldn’t be as easy as that. Viarmo will request you to carry out a quest for him, involving traveling to Dead Man’s Respite to find some missing poem verses. Follow the marker to the dungeon and fight your way through it, dealing with many draugr and frostbite spiders along the way.

Snag the poem verses from next to the corpse of Svaknir once you reach it, then backtrack back out of the catacombs. Fight Olaf One-Eye in the final chamber, then exit the dungeon with your acquired verses.

Make your way back to Viarmo and ask him about recreating the verses. You will then have to perform the poem before Jarl, then talk to Jorn in the college. Do so, then wait until 8pm and talk to him a second time. Head back outside for the burning of King Olaf. 

During this ceremony, Viarmo will grant you membership into the Bards College faction.

Benefits of Joining the Bards College

As a member of the college, you are now free to take items and books from the college to use as you please. You will also earn a few new quests to take on, where you are tasked with retrieving Finn’s Lute, Pantea’s Flute, and Rjorn’s Drum. Finding each will reward you with a +1 to all Thief, Mage, and Warrior skills respectively.

Two books in the college, The Legend of the Red Eagle and The Aetherium Wars will also immediately initiate quests for you after reading them. Both are found on bookshelves on the main floor of the college.

The Bards College is one of 15 joinable factions in Skyrim. Joining this faction does not prevent you from being able to join other factions, so players looking to get the most of their Skyrim experience should definitely try the Bards College out. If you’re interesting in learning more about Skyrim, consider checking out our other Skyrim guides!