Source
r/skyrim•
Magro28

Appreciate the Draugr, without them Skyrim would be a darker place...

I'm asking me one question every time I enter a long forgotten tomb. Who lights the hundreds of candles and torches in a tomb where nobody lives except the Draugr which usually sleep in their graves? Are Draugr secret master candle makers? Do zombies fear darkness? Where do they produce this large amount of torches? Fuck dragon slaying... to find the answere to this is the real main quest in this game.

Posted Nov 20, 2011, 9:20 PM UTC

15961
Dovakeithflair•

Clearly it's all the magical energy stored in the tomb that is keeping the torches lit. One line of dialogue.

63
BryanBoru•

Same magic that keeps those apples, cabbages and potatoes edible, I assume.

41
Nexusmaxisflair•

nope, msg

28
BryanBoru•

TIL that MSG is magic.

20
[deleted]•

I love how hung up people get on this. In a world of dragons and magic and spells, people pick at the candles.

Here's an explanation: when the tomb-builders where building a the tomb, they used magical candles that burn forever, which should be a perfectly acceptable answer in a world of summoning ethereal wolves and shooting off fireballs.

30
RazoridePC•

So why can't I make a torch that lasts forever then?

9
aescalante•

It is technology long forgotten and buried with the ancient Norns.

20
enderdioPC•

Yeah, then the Nords stole it and used it in their tombs

14
aescalante•

Huh. How did I manage to type Norns...thanks for pointing that out!

3
legiogallica•

you not being able to create it doesnt mean no one else can create one.

2
Beakerbiteflair•

That shits expensive.

1
[deleted]•

If you give your companion a torch they will use it at night, and it doesn't seem to ever burn out. Worked in Oblivion too I think.

1
EpicToastable•

Yeah in That one inn, I forget where I think windhelm, there is a candle upstairs over a fireplace that has been burning forever or something. Talk to the lady behind the counter and shell tell you..

3
[deleted]•

Just because we suspend disbelief for one thing doesn't mean we suspend disbelief for another thing.

2
BretOne•

In French we have the TGCM answer to those questions ("Ta Gueule, C'est Magique !"). It's widely used in paper/classic RPG to explain the flaws in the GM story.

You can translate it into PDITDIM in English ("Please Don't Investigate Too Deeply, It's Magic!").

27
PureStealth•

We have "A Wizard Did It" (Warning, tvtropes)

23
FarazParsaflair•

Dear God, I clicked it.

Goodbye Reddit, nice knowing you!

12
AdonisChrist•

NO! YOU'LL GET LOST IN THERE!

12
camelCasingPC•

He clicked the link. He's already gone.

10
dolphinhjXBOX•

I don't have to explain shit, it's magic.

3
KifKif•

YOUR FACE, ITS MAGIC

sounds like a compliment

3
[deleted]•

"Ta gueule" means "shut up"

1
KifKif•

Not literally.

1
[deleted]•

No, not literally. But it's a better translation than the literal one in this case

1
KidGorgeous69•

When something like that happens, a wizard did it.

9
[deleted]•

Candles are forever.

7
RenfXVIPC•

Minecraft....

6
G_Morgan•

Clearly notch incorporated this mechanic into Scrolls.

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

5
KingOfTheMonkeys•

Holy shit guys, I just figured it out. That fruit is filled with so many preservatives that it actually keeps the draugr in a state of perpetual animation. As the toxins slowly escape into the atmosphere from the draugr`s bodies as the fruit is digested, it creates a mildly flammable gas which keeps the candles perpetually lit, as the gas burns instead of the wick. The gas is released very slowly, and exists only in low concentrations, which is why the flame stays localized to the candles rather than expanding to consume everything in the area.

TL;DR: Magic zombie farts.

17
spektreflair•

I propose this as the canonical explanation.

4
SkelzorePC•

The cave-lighting fairy that goes to good Draugr boys and girls' dungeons?

4
Zitkovich•

Woah hold on here guys. Anyone else have a sudden flash of a gaggle of Draugr all gathered around a big table making candles and swapping stories of crypt rash, only to be interrupted by some upstart adventurer looking to steal their gold.

4
EvOllj•

the disbelief towards this is even so far suspended that npcs talk about a flame that burns for centuries in that city in the west, and noone knows why.

3
Tandrac•

Did you play Oblivion? It explaines it there.

Edit: spelling

2
AmbroseB•

Explains

1
tinlo•

I'm also curious as to why people aren't dying en masse of carbon monoxide poisoning with all these fires in enclosed living spaces.

3
ericandertonflair•

Appreciate the Draugr, without them Skyrim would be a darker place...

Seeing as how I tend to incinerate them with flames while they lie still in their graves, I would have to agree.

3
phoroforflair•

I read somewhere that Draugrs were once people that became cannibals and were cursed to live forever.

2
TychoVelius•

I think you mean wendigoes...

7
phoroforflair•

You're right.

3
sinndoggPC•

The load screens suggest that they were cursed for a different reason (namely, something to do with following the dragons), but yes, that's what Bloodmoon says.

1
[deleted]•

Reminds me of the tens of thousands of candles lit in Dead Space 2. WHO THE FUCK LIT ALL OF THOSE CANDLES?

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

2
[deleted]•

Well, the Vikings thought that you went to the hall of warriors (Valhalla), and who wants to go to a hall of warriors without your weapons and armor? It would be to go to a costume party without a costume.

6
[deleted]•

[deleted]

-6
funkadelphianflair•

i think he was playing along, but that's ok, humor isn't for everyone.

7
D3FYANC3flair•

i see what you did there...

1
Yggdrasil32flair•

then... what about the Falmer?

2
ShiftNMoveflair•

All your answers lie here my friend...

1
Mazrathflair•

Blame the mass effect

1
vengeancecube•

I always assumed it was priests and family members of the dead that were coming to pay homage that left these things behind. The draugr do not attack them and indeed the very tombs themselves lay dormant at the feet of these caretakers.

1
SpitFire9913PC•

[I was about had it with draugrs when in the main questline, right before you go to sovengarde like 4 overlord death lord mega dungeon master draugr or whatever they are called are chasing my ass at the same time a dragon priest is shooting at me with some staff. I barely escaped with my life] (/spoiler)

0