The Elven Greatsword is a graceful, gold-toned two-hander with 20 base damage and 20 weight. It sits between Dwarven and Glass on the material ladder, offering a noticeable damage bump while staying lighter than the clunkier metal greatswords.
Its recipe calls for 
refined moonstone, a 
quicksilver ingot, iron and leather, and it pairs nicely with Elven Armor for a matching look. A good pick for two-handed fighters in the middle levels who want something that looks better than it has any right to.
Stats
| Type | Greatsword |
|---|---|
| Skill | Two-handed |
| Material | Elven |
| Damage | 20 |
| Weight | 20 |
| Value | 470 gold |
| Speed | 0.7 |
| Reach | 1.3 |
| Stagger | 1.1 |
| Critical damage | 10 |
| Add-on | Base game |
| Item ID | 0001399F |
Where to find
- Unenchanted ones begin to appear at level 19, enchanted ones at level 20.
- Sold by blacksmiths and general goods merchants, carried by enemies and found as random loot.
- Folgunthur: just under the water in a submerged side passage to the right of the path to the Dragon-door (level-dependent).
- One sits on a weapon rack in the Jarl’s bedroom in Riften, but you will have to steal it.
Crafting and upgrading
Crafting at a forge: 2 × Refined Moonstone, 2 × 
Iron Ingot, 3 × 
Leather Strips, 1 × Quicksilver Ingot. Requires the Elven Smithing Smithing perk.
Improving at a grindstone: 1 × Refined Moonstone. The Arcane Blacksmith perk doubles the improvement.
Compared with other greatswords
Base stats of all regular (unenchanted) greatswords in Skyrim, weakest first:
| Weapon | Damage | Weight | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Greatsword | 15 | 16 | 50 |
| Ancient Nord Greatsword | 17 | 18 | 35 |
| Silver Greatsword | 17 | 12 | 160 |
| Steel Greatsword | 17 | 17 | 90 |
| Orcish Greatsword | 18 | 18 | 75 |
| Dwarven Greatsword | 19 | 19 | 270 |
| Elven Greatsword | 20 | 20 | 470 |
| Honed Ancient Nord Greatsword | 20 | 21 | 63 |
| Nord Hero Greatsword | 20 | 16 | 250 |
| Nordic Greatsword | 20 | 19 | 585 |
| Skyforge Steel Greatsword | 20 | 17 | 140 |
| Glass Greatsword | 21 | 22 | 820 |
| Ebony Greatsword | 22 | 22 | 1440 |
| Stalhrim Greatsword | 23 | 21 | 1970 |
| Daedric Greatsword | 24 | 23 | 2500 |
| Dragonbone Greatsword | 25 | 27 | 2725 |
Tips and notes
- Improve it at a grindstone with refined moonstone; the Elven Smithing perk doubles the improvement.
- Crafting needs Smithing 30 and Elven Smithing.
- The Skyforge Steel Greatsword matches its damage and can be bought much earlier in Whiterun.
- Upgrade path: the Glass Greatsword adds one more point of damage.
Stats from the Skyrim LE 1.9 master files (Skyrim.esm, record ElvenGreatsword). Values are base values before perks, smithing improvements and enchantments.
