THE ELDER SCROLLS
The first ones were brothers: Anu and Padomay. They came into the Void, and Time began. - The Monomyth
The Elder Scrolls has perhaps the deepest canon of any videogame series. Incredibly original and just as vast, the games' universe has been built up of fifteen years' worth of dialogue, books, blog posts, and essays. Appreciators of this lore are a fandom themselves, with a marvelous subreddit, a lore-driven wiki, and a podcast
all devoted to the study of the weird and wondrous world of Mundus.
Getting Started
The best way to dive into the Elder Scrolls universe is to play the games. Skyrim and Oblivion might not delve into the lore as deeply as Morrowind or Daggerfall, but they're a wonderful way to learn the basics of the series and develop a basic understanding of Mundus' mythology. The aforementioned TES Lore subreddit is a great place to discuss the universe and all its intricacies. Their Pocket Guide to Lore is pretty nifty and serves as an excellent companion to the Pocket Guide to the Empire, a lengthy in-game book that describes all of Tamriel's provinces.
A dozen hours of Oblivion might tell you a little bit about the gods and kings of so ancient a continent, but it's impossible to grasp the breadth of Tamriel's mythology without at least a cursory glance at some online resources. The Elder Scrolls is a universe comparable in scale to Middle Earth or A Song of Ice and Fire, and each game adds mountains of new material to the already lofty body of lore.
Mythology
The Aurbis was created in the time before time, when Anu (stasis) and Padomay (change) battled in the void. The Aurbis is the universe of the Elder Scrolls, and encompasses the world of Mundus and its firmament, made up of the planes of Oblivion, the planes of Aetherius, and the Void in between. Borne by Padomay to destroy what his brother had created, Lorkhan was the God of Creation, for he rebelled against his father and planned to create a world of his own design. With the help of the Aedra, or gods, he designed the world of Mundus, known to the elves as Nirn. Lorkhan poured his life into the creation of the planet. Unlike the Aether, which was the essence of stasis, or Oblivion, which was the essence of change, Mundus would be a place of balance, where mortal beings would live and die, and where time would all things would be temporal. The Aedra did not approve of what had become of Lorkhan's design, and had him destroyed. His body was shattered and became the moons, and the holes ripped by the retreating Aedra became the sun and the stars. Some of the Aedra died and had their bodies scattered among Mundus. From these fragments came the Ehlonfey, the first people, who were the ancestors of all men and elves.
Eight of the Aedra - Akatosh, Arkay, Dibella, Julianos, Kynareth, Mara, Stendarr, and Zenithar - would keep watch over the planet Mundus, and guide its development. Though Lorkhan the creator god was dead, his spirit lived on. Some of the fragments of Lorkhan's soul formed the spirit of Talos. Though an ancient Aedra, Talos descended to Mundus in human form six hundred years before the events of Skyrim. Born as Hjalti, this mortal would form the great Septim Empire, which would rule Tamriel for centuries. Upon the death of Tiber Septim, the spirit of Talos came to be worshiped by the men of Tamriel alongside the divines, and the Eight became Nine.
Politics
For most of Tamriel's recorded history, the continent has been united under the banner of Empire.
In the first era, the humans were enslaved by the brutal elves called the Ayelids, who worshiped birds and the sky, and rejected law or government. The mad Ayelids were so driven by their obsession that they mutated their own bodies, and grew feathers. One slave, a teenage girl named Alessia prayed to the gods for a respite from this oppression. Akatosh sent down two heroes, Pelinal and Morihaus. The former was a tireless, mysterious, and undefeatable warrior, who conquered the Ayelids and slayed their king. So driven with madness and hatred for the elves, he formed dozens of kingdoms out of old Elven land, then grew bored of kingship and went on to conquer more land. Eventually these kingdoms became the First Empire. Pelinal left Mundus, and left Alessia as emperess, and Morihaus as her husband and adviser.
Millennia later, long after the collapse of the Alessian Empire, the vicious snake-worshipping Akaviri peoples of the East tried to conquer Tamriel. A minor Colovian king named Reman led an army against the Akaviri, and destroyed the invading forces. Knowing that they had been defeated, but not decisively, the Eastern snake-people ended the war, but mandated that Akaviris must fill government posts across the Empire, recently formed by Reman, who now called himself Reman Cyrodiil. Under Reman, Tamriel was ushered into a new period of prosperity and innovation never before seen. Roads and castles were built across Tamriel and the Imperial City was formed around the ancient tower of the Ayelids. In the last years of the First Era, almost 3000 years after Alessia prayed to the Eight Divines, 200 years after Reman formed his empire, the Akaviri officials of the empire staged a coup and took power. Thus began the Second Era of Tamriel. Four hundred years later, Dark Elf assassins would kill the foreign emperor and his heirs, and Tamriel would fall apart once more into hundreds of cities and kingdoms independent from each other.
In 2E 849 a new empire was formed. Barely twenty years old, the Nord Talos came to Tamriel from the frozen island of Atmora. Trained by the mysterious Greybeards in Skyrim, he learned to master the ancient magic of the voice, and used this to unite an army. He served under Cuhlecain, a king of Colovia, and helped form the Third Empire. After the death of the emperor, General Talos took on the name Tiber Septim. Upon his death he ascended to the Aetherium, to rule the heavens as an equal of the Eight Divines.
The current empire is ruled by the Mede dynasty, and things are not well. Following the assassination of Emperor Uriel Septim VII, and the ascension of his bastard Martin to the sky, the empire was plunged into chaos. The High Elves of the Summerset Isle broke free from the nation, and formed the Aldmeri Dominion. Led by a radical group called the Thalmor, bent on bringing about the destruction of Mundus and all its inhabitants, these elves did not manage to defeat the empire, but much like the Akaviri of old, demanded that their agents patrol the empire at all times, and permeate the governments of the Dominon's enemies. While the threat of dragons ended during the events of Skyrim, the Thalmor are still a terrifying threat. According to writer Michael Kirkbride, creator of most of the Elder Scrolls lore, the Thalmor are going to win in the end.
Canon
Unlike a franchise like Harry Potter or A Song of Ice and Fire, all created by one person, multiple writers have contributed to the Elder Scrolls universe. As such, conflicts occur. The account I've given in the OP is the "accepted view" of events by in-game characters, although many fans and characters disagree with what I said. Another issue is that much of the game's lore has been added by Bethesda writers outside of the games. Michael Kirkbride is a contributing writer for all of the Elder Scrolls games. His blog contains some really outlandish, and often brilliant ideas (an ancient Elven queen was a robot, Pelinal traveled through time, Talos and Tiber Septim were two different people....), but not every fan accepts that as canon. Much of his writing, as well as some information given on the semi-official Elder Scrolls blog, is considered to be "obscure lore". This is information not directly given in the games, but considered to be canon by many of the developers. Often, it contradicts fundamental ideas about the Aurbis. And recently, a lot of this "obscure lore" was referenced in Skyrim.
Visual Resources
Tamriel:
Mundus:
Mundus and the Firmanent:
Races of Tamriel, as seen in Skyrim:
Elven Races (Daedric rune denotes Daedric involvment):
In Conclusion
The Elder Scrolls universe is vast, and has perhaps the deepest and most original lore of any videogame franchise. Though the games may seem a bit standard fantasy to the layperson, the deeper you go the more novel and wonderfully weird the Elder Scrolls get. This thread can be a place where we can discuss the Aurbis and all its inhabitants, and learn about the remarkable, remarkable lore. Perhaps, even, we can decide what exactly these mysterious elder scrolls are for.
What questions do you have about the Elder Scrolls universe? How familiar are you with its lore?
The first ones were brothers: Anu and Padomay. They came into the Void, and Time began. - The Monomyth
The Elder Scrolls has perhaps the deepest canon of any videogame series. Incredibly original and just as vast, the games' universe has been built up of fifteen years' worth of dialogue, books, blog posts, and essays. Appreciators of this lore are a fandom themselves, with a marvelous subreddit, a lore-driven wiki, and a podcast
all devoted to the study of the weird and wondrous world of Mundus.
Getting Started
The best way to dive into the Elder Scrolls universe is to play the games. Skyrim and Oblivion might not delve into the lore as deeply as Morrowind or Daggerfall, but they're a wonderful way to learn the basics of the series and develop a basic understanding of Mundus' mythology. The aforementioned TES Lore subreddit is a great place to discuss the universe and all its intricacies. Their Pocket Guide to Lore is pretty nifty and serves as an excellent companion to the Pocket Guide to the Empire, a lengthy in-game book that describes all of Tamriel's provinces.
A dozen hours of Oblivion might tell you a little bit about the gods and kings of so ancient a continent, but it's impossible to grasp the breadth of Tamriel's mythology without at least a cursory glance at some online resources. The Elder Scrolls is a universe comparable in scale to Middle Earth or A Song of Ice and Fire, and each game adds mountains of new material to the already lofty body of lore.
Mythology
The Aurbis was created in the time before time, when Anu (stasis) and Padomay (change) battled in the void. The Aurbis is the universe of the Elder Scrolls, and encompasses the world of Mundus and its firmament, made up of the planes of Oblivion, the planes of Aetherius, and the Void in between. Borne by Padomay to destroy what his brother had created, Lorkhan was the God of Creation, for he rebelled against his father and planned to create a world of his own design. With the help of the Aedra, or gods, he designed the world of Mundus, known to the elves as Nirn. Lorkhan poured his life into the creation of the planet. Unlike the Aether, which was the essence of stasis, or Oblivion, which was the essence of change, Mundus would be a place of balance, where mortal beings would live and die, and where time would all things would be temporal. The Aedra did not approve of what had become of Lorkhan's design, and had him destroyed. His body was shattered and became the moons, and the holes ripped by the retreating Aedra became the sun and the stars. Some of the Aedra died and had their bodies scattered among Mundus. From these fragments came the Ehlonfey, the first people, who were the ancestors of all men and elves.
Eight of the Aedra - Akatosh, Arkay, Dibella, Julianos, Kynareth, Mara, Stendarr, and Zenithar - would keep watch over the planet Mundus, and guide its development. Though Lorkhan the creator god was dead, his spirit lived on. Some of the fragments of Lorkhan's soul formed the spirit of Talos. Though an ancient Aedra, Talos descended to Mundus in human form six hundred years before the events of Skyrim. Born as Hjalti, this mortal would form the great Septim Empire, which would rule Tamriel for centuries. Upon the death of Tiber Septim, the spirit of Talos came to be worshiped by the men of Tamriel alongside the divines, and the Eight became Nine.
Politics
For most of Tamriel's recorded history, the continent has been united under the banner of Empire.
In the first era, the humans were enslaved by the brutal elves called the Ayelids, who worshiped birds and the sky, and rejected law or government. The mad Ayelids were so driven by their obsession that they mutated their own bodies, and grew feathers. One slave, a teenage girl named Alessia prayed to the gods for a respite from this oppression. Akatosh sent down two heroes, Pelinal and Morihaus. The former was a tireless, mysterious, and undefeatable warrior, who conquered the Ayelids and slayed their king. So driven with madness and hatred for the elves, he formed dozens of kingdoms out of old Elven land, then grew bored of kingship and went on to conquer more land. Eventually these kingdoms became the First Empire. Pelinal left Mundus, and left Alessia as emperess, and Morihaus as her husband and adviser.
Millennia later, long after the collapse of the Alessian Empire, the vicious snake-worshipping Akaviri peoples of the East tried to conquer Tamriel. A minor Colovian king named Reman led an army against the Akaviri, and destroyed the invading forces. Knowing that they had been defeated, but not decisively, the Eastern snake-people ended the war, but mandated that Akaviris must fill government posts across the Empire, recently formed by Reman, who now called himself Reman Cyrodiil. Under Reman, Tamriel was ushered into a new period of prosperity and innovation never before seen. Roads and castles were built across Tamriel and the Imperial City was formed around the ancient tower of the Ayelids. In the last years of the First Era, almost 3000 years after Alessia prayed to the Eight Divines, 200 years after Reman formed his empire, the Akaviri officials of the empire staged a coup and took power. Thus began the Second Era of Tamriel. Four hundred years later, Dark Elf assassins would kill the foreign emperor and his heirs, and Tamriel would fall apart once more into hundreds of cities and kingdoms independent from each other.
In 2E 849 a new empire was formed. Barely twenty years old, the Nord Talos came to Tamriel from the frozen island of Atmora. Trained by the mysterious Greybeards in Skyrim, he learned to master the ancient magic of the voice, and used this to unite an army. He served under Cuhlecain, a king of Colovia, and helped form the Third Empire. After the death of the emperor, General Talos took on the name Tiber Septim. Upon his death he ascended to the Aetherium, to rule the heavens as an equal of the Eight Divines.
The current empire is ruled by the Mede dynasty, and things are not well. Following the assassination of Emperor Uriel Septim VII, and the ascension of his bastard Martin to the sky, the empire was plunged into chaos. The High Elves of the Summerset Isle broke free from the nation, and formed the Aldmeri Dominion. Led by a radical group called the Thalmor, bent on bringing about the destruction of Mundus and all its inhabitants, these elves did not manage to defeat the empire, but much like the Akaviri of old, demanded that their agents patrol the empire at all times, and permeate the governments of the Dominon's enemies. While the threat of dragons ended during the events of Skyrim, the Thalmor are still a terrifying threat. According to writer Michael Kirkbride, creator of most of the Elder Scrolls lore, the Thalmor are going to win in the end.
Canon
Unlike a franchise like Harry Potter or A Song of Ice and Fire, all created by one person, multiple writers have contributed to the Elder Scrolls universe. As such, conflicts occur. The account I've given in the OP is the "accepted view" of events by in-game characters, although many fans and characters disagree with what I said. Another issue is that much of the game's lore has been added by Bethesda writers outside of the games. Michael Kirkbride is a contributing writer for all of the Elder Scrolls games. His blog contains some really outlandish, and often brilliant ideas (an ancient Elven queen was a robot, Pelinal traveled through time, Talos and Tiber Septim were two different people....), but not every fan accepts that as canon. Much of his writing, as well as some information given on the semi-official Elder Scrolls blog, is considered to be "obscure lore". This is information not directly given in the games, but considered to be canon by many of the developers. Often, it contradicts fundamental ideas about the Aurbis. And recently, a lot of this "obscure lore" was referenced in Skyrim.
Visual Resources
Tamriel:
Mundus:
Mundus and the Firmanent:
Races of Tamriel, as seen in Skyrim:
Elven Races (Daedric rune denotes Daedric involvment):
In Conclusion
The Elder Scrolls universe is vast, and has perhaps the deepest and most original lore of any videogame franchise. Though the games may seem a bit standard fantasy to the layperson, the deeper you go the more novel and wonderfully weird the Elder Scrolls get. This thread can be a place where we can discuss the Aurbis and all its inhabitants, and learn about the remarkable, remarkable lore. Perhaps, even, we can decide what exactly these mysterious elder scrolls are for.
What questions do you have about the Elder Scrolls universe? How familiar are you with its lore?
