History of Skyrim

Mythic and Merethic Foundations

The earliest inhabitants of Skyrim were the Snow Elves, or Falmer, who built gleaming cities in the frozen mountains. Their temples, legends, and worship of Auri-El left marks across the land, from the great shrine of Saarthal to the mountain sanctuaries now buried in ice. In the late Merethic, Ysgramor led the first human settlers from Atmora. After the Night of Tears, when the Falmer destroyed Saarthal, Ysgramor returned with the Five Hundred Companions, driving the Elves into hiding and establishing human dominance. Dragon cults rose during this time, worshipping dov as gods and erecting monumental barrows across the province. The foundations of Nordic culture—honor, clan loyalty, reverence for Shor—were set in this age.

The Rise of the Companions

Out of Ysgramor’s Five Hundred Companions grew a martial order that became central to Skyrim’s identity. The Companions preserved Atmoran traditions of honor and mercenary service, offering their blades to both kings and common folk. Over centuries, they established Jorrvaskr in Whiterun as their mead-hall headquarters, becoming the closest Skyrim had to an institution of knighthood. Their secret lycanthropic curse in later ages added both mystique and suspicion, but their role as defenders of Nord tradition made them revered. The Companions’ survival across every era is a testament to their adaptability and deep roots in Nordic culture.

The College of Winterhold

During the First Era, the College of Winterhold rose as a center of arcane learning. Founded by Nords and influenced by Altmeri traditions, it survived countless purges of magic across the continent. The Great Collapse of 4E 122, when much of Winterhold fell into the sea, was blamed on the College, deepening Nord suspicion of mages. Yet the institution endured, continuing to attract scholars from across Tamriel. Its survival through catastrophe is emblematic of Skyrim’s uneasy but persistent relationship with magic: feared, distrusted, but never fully eradicated.

The Greybeards and the Way of the Voice

Following the Dragon Wars, the Thu’um was weaponized by Nords to devastating effect. To prevent destruction, Jurgen Windcaller preached the Way of the Voice, teaching that the Thu’um should be used for worship, not war. His followers, the Greybeards of High Hrothgar, withdrew to the Throat of the World, dedicating themselves to silent contemplation. Though rarely intervening in politics, their presence loomed over history. Their refusal to wield power frustrated many Nords, but their spiritual authority anchored Nordic religion, reminding Skyrim that the Voice was a divine gift, not merely a weapon.

First Era: Nordic Empire and Decline

Ysgramor’s heirs united Skyrim into a powerful kingdom, and under High King Harald the Nords abandoned Atmoran ties to rule solely as Tamrielic people. From their mountain holds, they launched conquests across Morrowind, Cyrodiil, and High Rock, establishing the first true Nordic Empire. For centuries, Skyrim’s kings claimed dominion over half the continent. Yet the empire faltered. In Morrowind, the Chimer and Dwemer allied to resist Nordic rule, defeating them at the Battle of Red Mountain. In High Rock, Direnni battlemages and emerging Breton lords pushed the Nords back. Civil strife at home fractured the throne, and Skyrim withdrew to its borders. The once-great empire receded into legend, though Nordic pride endured.

The War of Succession

After High King Harald’s death in the First Era, Skyrim entered a bloody civil conflict over the right of succession. Jarls turned against one another, and the holds fought for dominance in a war that lasted generations. The struggle ended with the Pact of Chieftains, which formalized the Moot — a council of jarls empowered to choose the next High King. This system prevented dynasties from monopolizing the throne, but it also ensured that Skyrim would remain fractious, its unity always precarious. The War of Succession left deep scars and established the cycle of rivalry that echoes even into the Fourth Era.

Second Era: Interregnum and Alliances

During the Second Era, Skyrim became a divided province within a divided continent. The Interregnum left no Dragonborn Emperor, and Skyrim’s jarls vied for influence while banditry and warlords plagued the holds. In 2E 582, Skyrim became part of the Ebonheart Pact with Morrowind and Black Marsh, uniting long-hated neighbors against Cyrodiilic and Elven powers. Though mistrust was constant, the Pact bound Nords, Dunmer, and Argonians together during the chaos of the Three Banners War. Skyrim’s traditions of martial honor and the Thu’um remained strong, but its influence was limited. By the era’s end, Skyrim was fractured, its kings little more than stewards of ancient glory.

Third Era: Imperial Rule and Local Autonomy

When Tiber Septim unified Tamriel, Skyrim became an Imperial province but retained considerable autonomy. The Nords embraced Talos as one of their own, his apotheosis confirming Nordic faith in man’s ascendancy. High Kings were crowned with Imperial sanction, but jarls maintained strong independence. Skyrim’s legions fought in the Empire’s wars, yet Nordic traditions survived intact. Civil conflicts flared occasionally, such as during the War of the Red Diamond, when Skyrim supported different Septim claimants, but the province remained under Imperial orbit. Temples to the Nine Divines spread, guilds established strongholds, and the Nordic pantheon intertwined with Imperial faith. Skyrim prospered but never forgot its identity as the land of heroes and dragon-slayers.

Fourth Era: Concordat and Civil Tension

The Oblivion Crisis shook Skyrim deeply, though its holds survived with less devastation than Cyrodiil. The real fracture came after the Great War. When Titus Mede II signed the White-Gold Concordat in 4E 175, outlawing Talos worship, the Nords erupted in outrage. Talos, once their general and later their god, was inseparable from Nordic pride. Imperial enforcement of the ban alienated the people and jarls alike. Tensions worsened with the death of the High King and Thalmor agents policing Skyrim’s shrines. Many Nords felt betrayed, believing the Empire had surrendered their god for survival.

The Reach and the Forsworn

The Reach has long been contested ground between Nords and Reachmen. During the Fourth Era, the Forsworn rebellion emerged after Ulfric Stormcloak retook Markarth from native control. The “Markarth Incident” saw Ulfric’s militia massacre Reachmen and enforce Nord dominance, sparking bitterness that fueled Forsworn insurgencies. The rebellion underscored Skyrim’s divisions: not only Nord against Empire, but Nord against those they considered foreign even within their borders. The Forsworn embodied the long memory of conquest, keeping alive the claim that Skyrim was not solely Nord land.

The Great Collapse

One of Skyrim’s greatest Fourth Era disasters, the Great Collapse nearly destroyed the city of Winterhold. Massive chunks of coastline fell into the Sea of Ghosts, swallowing homes, temples, and halls. While natural causes were blamed by some, most citizens accused the College of Winterhold, whose arcane experiments were rumored to have triggered the calamity. The disaster left Winterhold a shell of its former self, reduced to a handful of buildings clinging to a cliffside. The Great Collapse reinforced the Nord belief that magic was dangerous and untrustworthy, while also symbolizing the fragility of Skyrim’s settlements against nature’s fury.

The Moot and Political Division

Unlike centralized empires, Skyrim’s politics revolved around the Moot, where jarls elected the High King. In practice, this created endless rivalries: jarls supported kings for personal alliances or regional advantage, not unity. Even under the Empire, the Moot’s autonomy limited Cyrodiil’s influence. By 4E 201, the Moot was deeply divided, with jarls split between loyalty to the Empire and sympathy for Ulfric Stormcloak. The system that once prevented dynastic tyranny now contributed to civil war, ensuring Skyrim’s fate would always be decided by fractured councils rather than unchallenged sovereigns.

The Stormcloak Rebellion

Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm, emerged as the champion of Nordic defiance. A veteran of the Great War and master of the Thu’um, he argued that Skyrim must reject Imperial weakness and reclaim independence. In 4E 201, he challenged High King Torygg in Solitude and slew him with the Voice, claiming lawful duel. To his supporters, Ulfric was a liberator restoring ancient rights; to his enemies, a murderer plunging Skyrim into war. Torygg’s death fractured the province, with some jarls siding with the Stormcloaks and others remaining loyal to the Empire. Skyrim became the central battleground for Tamriel’s struggle between human resilience and Imperial survival.

Legacy to 4E 201

Skyrim’s history is one of conquest, collapse, and unyielding survival. From the Snow Elves to Ysgramor, from dragon cults to Septim Emperors, the province has endured every shift of Tamrielic power while clinging to its mountain traditions. By 4E 201, its people once again stood divided, their faith in Talos outlawed, their High King slain, and their destiny uncertain. Yet the Nords have always thrived in turmoil, and Skyrim’s story remains the tale of a land where gods walked, dragons ruled, and mortals carved their own fate from stone and snow.