A man under the protection of guest right; ©Bethesda Softworks
Guest right, also called bread and salt, is an ancient and sacred custom in Tamriel, going back thousands of years. Even cultures that do not have a specific name for this concept still culturally possess it, and shun those who break it.
Customs[]
The guest right is a sacred law of hospitality, especially in Skyrim. When a guest, be he commonborn or noble, eats the food and drinks the drink off a host's table beneath the host's roof, guest right is invoked. Bread and salt are traditional provisions.
When invoked, neither the guest nor the host can harm the other for the length of the guest's stay. For either to do so would be to break a sacred covenant that is believed to invoke the wrath of the gods, of all faiths. Even robbers and bandits are bound by the ancient laws of hospitality.
A lord might deny guest right, though this is very uncommon even for a guest the lord dislikes, after which it is customary to allow the one would-be guest to leave on their own volition.
It is sometimes customary for a host to give guest gifts to the departing guests when they leave the host's dwellings; this usually represents the end of the sacred guest right. In addition, visiting guests will sometimes offer their host guest gifts as gratitude for giving them food and shelter.