As well as passive creatures, it is often the lore and reasoning behind hostile enemy-types within Skyrim that players find so captivating and interesting. The Ice Wraith enemy-type is a perfect example of this, with the lore behind their mysterious and ominous existence providing a level of complex contextualization and world-building.
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What Ice Wraiths Are
Ice Wraiths are quite a unique and relatively uncommon enemy-type that can be found within the diverse and populated lands of Skyrim. Ice Wraiths are elemental frost spirits that are hostile towards the player, being creatures made of ice and snow.
It can be said that Ice Wraith’s live symbiotically with the cold temperature, with it being no wonder that the icy plains of Skyrim are their chosen habitat. The coldest regions within the map like Winterhold and The Pale, are where Ice Wraiths can be most commonly found. Ice Wraiths are almost translucent in appearance, resembling small and pale frost-formed dragons that move in a wispy and sporadic manner.
Understandably, Ice Wraiths are immune to frost damage, and are adversely quite vulnerable to fire damage. Upon successfully killing an Ice Wraith, Ice Wraith Teeth, Ice Wraith Essence, and White Ice can be found as loot on their remains.
The Lore Behind Ice Wraiths
Ice Wraiths are very intrinsically linked to the lands of Skyrim and its people. These Wraiths are believed to be evoked from Nirn, the planet which houses all the lands that are featured within The Elder Scrolls franchise. With no sorcery being involved in their creation, Ice Wraiths are innately elemental and mysterious in nature.
The hostile nature of the Ice Wraiths, combined with their camouflaged appearance within their snowy habitat, has made them a historical bane of the Nordic people that are indigenous to Skyrim. Many Nords over time have fallen victim to the unrelenting attacks of Ice Wraiths, either being killed or infected by Witbane, a disease carried by all Ice Wraiths. This disease is resultantly a common side effect of fighting Ice Wraiths that players can experience. With Witbane reducing magicka regeneration by a staggering 50%, players will want to craft a Cure Disease potion should they get infected.
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Ice Wraiths Within the Second Era
Despite what little is known about Ice Wraiths historically within Skyrim, there are accounts of rituals and ceremonies relating to Ice Wraiths and the Nordic people that date to the Second Era, many years before the events of Skyrim. This particular facet of Ice Wraith lore does well to convey the long-standing interaction and plight between the two opposing co-inhabitants of the land.
This aspect of lore refers to the ancient traditions and rites of passage carried out by young men within the Old Holds of Skyrim. During the Second Era, it is said that young men on the brink of adulthood would venture out into the unforgiving mountainous terrain they called home, with the sole purpose of hunting and killing an Ice Wraith. If successful, these young men would return as fully accepted adult citizens of their respectful towns and cities, much to the reverence of their peers and wider community. The Old Holds refer to the strongholds situated within the Eastern half of the province of Skyrim, namely Winterhold, Eastmarch, Rift, and the Pale. These areas have a deeper affinity for the “older ways” of Nordic culture even within the more recent events of Skyrim, giving further credence to this cultural tidbit.
Ice Wraiths Within the Fourth Era
Remnants of these aforementioned practices and rituals involving Ice Wraiths have even survived up until the Fourth Era, the time period in which the events of Skyrim’s story take place. With the proud Stormcloak army of the civil war within Skyrim possessing ideals of cultural preservation and Nordic heritage, it is no wonder that aged elements of Nordic ritual still hold a presence within many Nords in Skyrim, even at this time.
While no longer undertaken in order to gain full citizenship status, the act of killing an Ice Wraith as a rite of passage was still a prominent ritual amongst Stormcloak affiliates throughout the story of Skyrim. The practice was particularly popular with the enigmatic Galmar Stone-Fist, the second in command of the sprawling Stormcloak army under Ulfric Stormcloak. With Galmar being a figurehead of Stormcloak attack strategy, as well as overseeing the recruitment and initiation of new soldiers into the army, the resurgence of this ancient ritual was used to test resilience and strength.
New recruits were sent to the historically sacred Nordic site of The Serpent Stone, East of Winterhold, to hunt an Ice Wraith and prove their worthiness to the Stormcloak cause. It is noted that Ice Wraiths are unusually attracted to many sites that the Nordic people are spiritually and culturally associated to, furthering the mysterious yet adversarial bond that the two species share. The Dragonborn is actually sent to The Serpent Stone by Galmar Stone-Fist for this very purpose, should the player choose to join the Stormcloaks instead of their Imperial enemy. Despite the relatively weak overall threat that single Ice Wraiths pose in combat, it is clear that their mysterious origins and threatening auras have helped make them a foe worthy of proving strength and courage to the people of Skyrim.
Skyrim is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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