No matter where your Dragonborn adventure takes you, you will always find the time for romance. To make things official, here are the best wives you can marry in Skyrim Special Edition.
The Dragonborn’s never-ending adventures across Skyrim can get tiresome and lonely. That’s why it is always nice to have someone to return home to between your travels. During your adventures, you will encounter plenty of bold, beautiful women who can be romanced.
That said, all of these women have different personalities and goals in life – offering unique interactions. Once you’ve met your perfect match, you can choose to settle down with them and enjoy a long and happy married life.
However, just fancying someone isn’t enough to ask for their hand in marriage. The first step to getting hitched in Skyrim is acquiring the Amulet of Mara. You can obtain the Amulet by speaking to Maramal at the Bee and Barb Inn in Riften. He will share information on the Temple of Mara and agree to sell the Amulet for 200 gold.
After completing the marriage ceremony, you can either choose to move in with your wife or assign a home for them to move into. Depending on their fighting abilities, you can take them with you on your adventures or have them stay home and await your return.
If they choose to stay back and manage household affairs, they will set up a shop and become merchants. You will then have access to their daily business profits of 100 gold.
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Moreover, having a wife means you get to eat home-cooked meals that boost your spirits, increasing your Health, Stamina, and Magicka regeneration. Furthermore, sleeping next to your spouse will also give you a Lover’s Comfort bonus, increasing your skill-learning rate by 15% for 8 hours.
As bold, beautiful, and independent as one might be, not everyone you meet will make a good companion. To ensure you pick only the best women to be your life partner, we have prepared an extensive guide listing our picks for the best wives in Skyrim.
Top 10 Best Wives in Skyrim
Below are all the best wives you can marry in Skyrim and how to marry them.
10. Camilla Valerius
- Location: Riverwood Trader shop, Riverwood
- Requirement: Complete The Golden Claw quest
Camilla is an Imperial pawnbroker who runs the Riverwood Trader general goods store with her brother in Riverwood. She is pretty popular among men, given how both Faendal and Sven fight for her affection. So if you are trying to woo her, there’s already some serious competition to look out for.
You will have to help retrieve the golden claw stolen from her shop to gain her favor. After this, she will become a marriage candidate. Remember that both Faendal and Sven will ask for your assistance in winning her over. And even if you marry her yourself and move to a different city, Faendal will continue to pursue her and even show up on your doorstep.
Camilla is no fighter, but she dutifully fulfills her role as the ideal housewife. Since she already has a knack for business, you will get steady profits from her business and also be able to purchase unique items from her shop. Lastly, marrying her will unlock the Riverwood Trader as your new home.
9. Ysolda
- Location: Open market, Whiterun
- Requirement: Bring her a Mammoth Tusk
Ysolda is a Nordic merchant based in Whiterun. She can be mostly found walking around Dragonsreach. She comes across as a friendly and approachable woman who is always in search of good deals.
Players must give her a Mammoth Tusk to gain her favor during the Rare Gifts quest. After this, she will become a marriage candidate. Ysolda will accept the mammoth tusk even if it’s a stolen item, and it doesn’t negatively impact her perception of you. So there is no need to stress over how you acquire it.
Ysolda is both dedicated and hardworking at her job and spends a lot of her time walking around the marketplace to learn and research about the merchant’s trade – all so that she can run her own inn someday. That’s why she has no trouble earning a good penny and bringing food to the table.
8. Sylgja
- Location: Shor’s Stone, The Rift
- Requirement: Complete the Special Delivery quest
Sylgja is a Nordic miner who works at the Redbelly Mine in Shor’s Stone. She comes from a family of miners, with her parents running the Darkwater Crossing mining settlement. She lives a humble life and can be mostly found working at the mining site during the day.
If you wish to marry Sylgja, you must deliver a few letters to her father on her behalf. This will involve going back and forth between Redbelly Mine and Darkwater Crossing a few times. But at least you’ll have earned her favor.
Sylgja is an extraordinarily hardworking and beautiful woman. However, she detests being liked only for her appearance and thus rejects attention from troublesome men like Odfel.
Since she places great importance on her family, she will only like you if you help her with her familial affairs. And if you marry her, you will become the most essential part of her life.
Having said that, Sylgja is not a fighter and has a full-time job that keeps her busy 12 hours a day. That’s why she cannot accompany you as a Follower.
7. Jenassa
- Location: The Drunken Huntsman Tavern, Whiterun
- Requirement: Hire her for 500 Gold
Jenassa is a Dunmer sellsword often hanging around The Drunken Huntsman tavern in Whiterun. Her personality certainly stands out from the other wife candidates on this list, as she displays sadistic characteristics and an intense bloodthirst.
However, this also means she is one of the few people who wouldn’t mind you killing innocents or breaking the law, making her the perfect partner in crime. Since she is a mercenary, you don’t need to do anything special to gain her favor. Instead, you can hire Jenassa to be your Follower for a hefty sum of 500 gold.
Jenassa makes an amazing wife simply due to her personality and fighting capabilities. She is one of the few followers who prefer dual-wielding weapons above others. Moreover, not only is she a deadly melee combatant, but she is also adept at archery.
Furthermore, her starting weapons have the highest base stats in the game. This makes Jenassa one of the best choices for marriage in Skyrim.
6. Muiri
- Location: The Hag’s Cure, Markarth
- Requirement: Complete the Mourning Never Comes quest
Muiri has a sad past. She’s a Breton from Windhelm who had to flee to Markarth after being falsely accused of stealing her clan’s heirloom. She is driven by revenge and contracts the Dark Brotherhood to assassinate her former lover and friend, Alain and Nilsine, the true culprits.
You must first join the Dark Brotherhood faction to access her quest and unlock her as a spouse candidate. You must kill both targets to gain her favor, even though the quest only requires you to kill the ex-lover. Once you do, she will become available for marriage.
Muiri works as an alchemist apprentice under Bothela at The Hag’s Cure. Since she cannot join you as a follower, she will become a general goods merchant after marriage. However, if Bothela is killed before the ceremony, she will continue working as an alchemist.
Despite not being a fighter, she makes a great wife due to her looks and skills as an expert alchemist. Not to mention, she’s the only female alchemist you can marry in Skyrim.
5. Mjoll The Lioness
- Location: Riften
- Requirements:
- Complete the Grimsever’s Return quest
- Have no association with the Thieves Guild
Mjoll the Lioness is a Nordic warrior and adventurer who can be found hanging around the Bee and Barb Inn in Riften. Being a seasoned warrior may make her seem a little intimidating, but she is as friendly and earnest as they come.
Moreover, she has spent much of her life traveling across Tamriel. This makes Mjoll incredibly compatible with someone like the Dragonborn. You must offer to retrieve her lost sword to gain her favor.
She will become a spouse candidate if you track down the sword and return it to her. You can find the Grimsever sword in the Dwemer ruins of Mzinchaleft.
However, earning her trust will take more than that. Mjoll strongly detests the Thieves Guild for their role in all the corruption in Riften. So, to get on her good side, you must not have any connections to the faction.
Having said that, Mjoll already has a companion named Aerin, who will follow her to the ends of the earth. That’s why you might want to marry Mjoll only if you’re open to getting into a polyamorous relationship.
4. Brelyna Maryon
- Location: College of Winterhold, Winterhold
- Requirements:
- Join the College of Winterhold
- Complete Brelyna’s Practice quest
Brelyna is a Dunmer mage apprentice studying at the College of Winterhold. You will become acquainted with the introverted yet talented mage when enrolling in the College.
Despite her shy and aloof nature, Brelyna is a strong contender for becoming the Dragonborn’s wife. That’s because her backstory and character interactions are more fleshed out than the other wife candidates on this list.
However, you must agree to become the test subject of her magical experiments to gain her favor. This involves being stuck with a green vision for 5 hours and then being turned into various animals. This will deepen your bond with her and unlock her as a potential Follower and wife.
Marrying Brelyna is a wise choice for all mage lovers. After all, she is exceptionally proficient in casting magic and can overwhelm enemies in battle with her offensive Flames and Firebolt spells.
Moreover, she can summon Frost Atronachs and Flame Atronachs for additional support in battle. With Brelyna by your side, you will become an unstoppable duo.
3. Borgakh the Steel Heart
- Location: Mor Khazgur, Haafingar
- Requirement: Pay dowry or persuade her to accompany you
Borgakh is an Orc warrior residing in the Mor Khazgur Orc stronghold. Tribal Orcs are known to keep to themselves and generally don’t have any connections with the outside world. As a member of the tribal orc faction, Borgakh envies you because you have the freedom to venture out into the world at your own will.
Upon getting to know her, Borgakh will tell you that she is being married off to a chieftain from another Orc stronghold. However, she feels caged since she doesn’t even know who her fiance is and wishes to experience true freedom.
You can either persuade her with words to leave the stronghold with you or pay a dowry. Either way, she will accompany you and become a Follower. You can then propose to get married at the Temple of Mara.
Borgakh is one of the best wives in Skyrim since she has the means to support you in both battle and at home. By marrying Borgakh, you can move into her house and live at the stronghold despite not being an Orc yourself. This will give you access to all the trainers and merchants within the Mor Khazgur stronghold.
Moreover, Orcs are renowned for their strength and endurance, which makes her an incredibly tanky physical damage dealer. She can withstand the hardest-hitting attacks while devastating enemies with her brute force. This gives you all the reasons to make her your traveling companion.
2. Lydia
- Location: Breezehome, Whiterun
- Requirements:
- Complete the Dragon Rising quest
- Become Breezehome’s owner
Lydia is a gorgeous Nordic warrior that you gain as a housecarl and Follower after becoming the Thane of Whiterun and purchasing the Breezehome mansion. These are the only requirements for unlocking her as a marriage candidate.
Her deep-running affection for the Dragonborn makes her an incredibly loyal and attentive wife. If you take her along with you on your adventures, she will often rush into battle to protect you. However, her blind devotion is also a problem since it can get her killed more easily.
That said, she is the only wife candidate on this list who will put her own life in danger to protect yours. And even if she stays home, she will always greet you with open arms when you return from travel and cook delicious meals for you.
Moreover, she also has an extensive range of unique dialogues, so conversations with her never feel dull. This makes Lydia one of the most popular marriage choices in Skyrim.
1. Aela the Huntress
- Location: Jorrvaskr, Whiterun
- Requirements:
- Join the Companions
- Complete the Glory of the Dead quest
As for the best wife in Skyrim, we have chosen Aela the Huntress. Aela is a Nordic Warrior who also happens to be one of the core members of The Circle. Like the rest of her faction, she resides in Jorrvaskr. Being part of the Circle means she can transform into a Werewolf and possesses superhuman abilities.
Aela is Skyrim’s most popular wife candidate due to all that she brings to the table. She’s not only beautiful but is also incredibly reliable. Moreover, she is well respected within her faction due to her leadership qualities and wisdom. Once you become a member of the Circle, she will show unwavering loyalty to you.
Moreover, being a werewolf means she is invulnerable to most human weapons and has higher health, stamina, and regenerative powers. Furthermore, she is also an Expert-level Archery trainer who can train your Archery skills up to level 75.
In many ways, Aela is the perfect person to marry if you want to go down the Werewolf’s path. By marrying Aela, you will gain a lifelong companion who will understand you, cherish you, and help you improve your lycanthropic abilities.
Do you wish to learn more about Skyrim? Then check out our other guides on All Console Commands & Cheats, All Guilds and Factions, Best Skyrim Builds, Best Skyrim Factions, How to Get to Forelhost, How To Install The Skygerfall Mod, and How to Fish in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
