Roggvir was a Nord who lived his whole life in Solitude and served as one of its city guards. When Ulfric Stormcloak killed High King Torygg, Roggvir – apparently on gate duty – opened the city gates and let Ulfric get away. He was branded a traitor and condemned to death.
Where to find them
He’s on the execution block the first time you enter Solitude through the main gate. Come in through the side gate instead and you’ll miss the execution, though everyone will talk as if you saw it. Afterwards his body ends up in the Solitude catacombs.
Quests
His execution is a scripted scene: Captain Aldis reads the charges, the crowd jeers, and Roggvir insists there was no murder – Ulfric challenged Torygg and won fairly, the old Nord way. He refuses help and goes proudly to the block. You can disrupt it by attacking the guards or stepping onto the platform; he’ll bolt, and he may even survive if the guards are kept busy, but he’s scripted to die and tends to vanish or drop dead if you try talking to him.
Later, his niece Svari asks you to help her mother. That miscellaneous quest has you take Roggvir’s Amulet of Talos from his coffin in the catacombs and bring it to his sister Greta, who stopped visiting the Temple of the Divines after his death.
Personality & relationships
Roggvir was a proud Nord and a Stormcloak sympathiser. Svari adored her uncle, and Greta’s husband Addvar struggles to console her. Not everyone has fond memories, though: Sorex Vinius remembers him as a cruel childhood prankster who once put a beehive in his bed and humiliated him in front of Vivienne Onis. Captain Aldis, meanwhile, considered him an honourable man even while calling the execution necessary.
Good to know
Leave his amulet alone until Greta asks for it – taking it before his body is moved to the catacombs can break the quest. After the Battle for Solitude, Stormcloak guards lament that they couldn’t arrive in time to save him.
Quick facts
- Race: Nord
- Gender: Male
- Level: 1
- Class: Warrior
- Status: Killable
- Found in: Solitude
- Base ID: 000A3BDB
Also in Solitude
Rorlund, Sabine Nytte, Safia, Sayma, Sheogorath, Silana Petreia, Snilling, Sorex Vinius, Styrr, Svari, Sybille Stentor, Taarie.
Race, level, class and factions read from the Skyrim game files; story details checked against community wiki articles and written in our own words.