The Mysterious 'Friend' That Everyone Wanted To Know About In Skyrim

Skyrim has many unsolved mysteries, but none of them are as utterly strange as the letters that help players increase their Dragon Shout abilities. The letters help lead the Dragonborn to a Word Wall, where they can increase their vocabulary and acquire new abilities, but who exactly is penning these directions? It's one of the biggest secrets in all of Skyrim.

Okay, so fans don't know for sure who the friend is, or why they're so invested in helping the Dragonborn grow stronger. However, people have taken to the internet to speculate on who the mysterious friend could be, and the theories are pretty interesting.

In a thread on the Elder Scrolls Wiki dating back to 2013, then revived periodically over the years, fans have debated just who might have penned these famous letters. Some fans think that Delphine, the owner of an inn in Riverwood, could be the friend in question, but others have said that even if Delphine gets killed or if the player hasn't met her yet, the letters appear all the same.

In fact, astute player Champion of Hermaeus Mora points out that no matter what faction you insult and dishonor throughout the game, the letters from your friend just keep coming. This Champion of Hermaeus Mora argues that Hermaeus himself is the Dragonborn's penpal, attempting to strengthen his new champion by pointing out new Word Walls.

The Daedric prince Hermaeus Mora interferes with Tamriel's workings from afar, and he often chooses to not manifest in a physical form at all. A lore-filled loading screen states that Hermaeus Mora chooses to "appear as a grotesque mass of tentacles." Can a tentacle wield a pen to inscribe directions to a Word Wall? Maybe not, but one would think that his supernatural powers might help him communicate with the Dragonborn.

Reddit user Aperture_Scientist4 has another interesting theory. Maybe, they state, "it was someone named A. Friend. As in, that was his actual name." While this theory probably isn't true, it's fun to imagine that there's a mischievous, oddly-named guy just looking out for the hero of Tamriel. Regardless of who the friend is, they're a friend indeed, and an essential part of every Dragonborn's journey, which is a lengthy one at best.