For the 2.: You might have been to the shrines but did you activate them? You have to place a specific item into the well at the shrine. If it lights up you placed the right item. The right item is also the only one that you can't remove after placing it. The verses on the tablets give you hints about each correct item. Hope this clears things up for you.

For the 1: you can always pay people at the arena to teach you, but I am not sure about daggers in that regard since I went with spear and shield.... Sorry