Temba Wide-Arm is a Nord who runs the lumber mill in Ivarstead, and business is bad. The local bears keep wrecking her logs, and she is not handling it with grace. If you want a spouse who tells it like it is, she might be your match.
Where to find them
At the mill in Ivarstead, with her cheerful apprentice Gwilin chopping wood nearby.
Quests
Grin and Bear It: Temba wants the bear problem solved – kill 10 bears and bring her their pelts. Doing so makes her your friend, and if she later dies she leaves you an inheritance.
Rescue (Dawnguard): she can be one of the hostages in a rescue job from Florentius Baenius.
Services
As a mill owner she takes firewood off your hands.
Follower & marriage
Temba can be married if you wear an Amulet of Mara. The wiki says she becomes available after Grin and Bear It, and also mentions that selling her firewood can be enough. Married life with her comes with commentary: she dislikes Breezehome, and in country homes such as Lakeview Manor, Heljarchen Hall or Windstad Manor she’ll sarcastically report that the kids are fine despite fending off everything from wolves to Frostbite Spiders – she clearly prefers city life. Ask her for a home-cooked meal and she’ll point out that you should be cooking for her, then do it anyway.
Personality & relationships
Abrasive is the polite word. Temba swears about the bears and complains about ruined logs, but she is no coward: if a dragon attacks Ivarstead, she joins the fight.
Good to know
Her name is a nod to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Darmok” and its line “Temba, his arms wide.”
Quick facts
- Race: Nord
- Gender: Female
- Level: 8
- Class: Citizen
- Status: Killable
- Found in: Ivarstead
- Services: Buys firewood
- Base ID: 000658D2
Also in Ivarstead
Wilhelm, Barknar, Bassianus Axius, Boti, Fastred, Gwilin, Jofthor, Klimmek, Lynly Star-Sung, Narfi.
Race, level, class and factions read from the Skyrim game files; story details checked against community wiki articles and written in our own words.