Skyrim - The COMPLETE Guide to the Nords - Elder Scrolls Lore

[Music] most mortal cultures believe they are born of the earth they enter the world naked and when they die they return to the soil their souls ascend to the afterlife while their bodies decompose fertilizing the land so that new life may spring up in their wake it is the circle of life mortals construct their kingdoms using materials harvested from the terrain some races innovate on this trend by building civilizations beneath the ground the dwarves cleared vast caverns to make space for their Citadel's and in doing so they acquired all the resources an architect could need all the hidden spoils of the tricks to God's Great Green world the elven races are renowned for such quirks they vary drastically from region to region the climber and dunmer have their mushroom metropolis is the altima have their refracting realm made from magic glass that's blindingly beautiful to behold the races of men however they tend to lack this diversity but there is one race of men who despite looking similar to the need ik tribes folk of Tamriel on the surface and nothing like their human counterparts these men did not sprout from the earth like weeds no they descended down from the heavens carried on the biting northern winds they came to a realm in need of warriors riding the Hawk goddesses wings when kind the warrior Widow of shawl the goddess of the storm exhale de pond the tremendous heights of the throat of the world her beatific breath saturated through the coniferous forests and warmed the snows which blanketed the north her divine draught filled the land with life and so the Nords were born physically they are unmistakably human but spiritually they'll forever perceive themselves as Outsiders sharing no kinship whatsoever with the other men of Tamriel this fundamental belief is at the core of every Nord they are one with the wind their lungs are microcosms of kinds elemental power every breath is a gift from kine and every word songs spoken or shout it is a form of sacred sorcery the creation stories describe Tamriel the land of Dawn's beauty as the pinnacle of the mortal realm to which all living things are innately drawn the elves never left but the men were scattered and the Nords were first to find their way back home this is their story hey guys it's drew here and welcome back to fudge Muppet today we're traveling to a familiar province to learn about a familiar race I'm sure you've all heard of the Nords of Skyrim but that doesn't mean you'll be leaving this video with nothing new there's a great deal of lore about the Nords that you could never learn simply through playing the Elder Scrolls 5 and there's so much environmental law that could easily be overlooked the Nords may seem at first glance like nerds equivalent to the Vikings of our world and the name Nord certainly reinforces that presumption but there is so much more to this race that isn't portrayed in Skyrim of fourth era 201 and with ESO expansion the dark heart of Skyrim a couple of months away there's no better time to brush up and all there is to know about this tall fair-haired race so let's get started by talking about their origins every Tamriel ik race has a slightly different interpretation of how they ended up on nirn the creation stories vary wildly in detail and there's no shortage of imagination from culture to culture but there are also clear parallels that pervade in every myth and weave the destinies of the many races together unfortunately there isn't a detailed recording of the Nordic creation story but it probably contains similar themes with parallel entities representing Anu and Padme the forces of stasis and change we know they believe they were born from kinds breath that's not just a metaphor to the Nords and we also get a little bit of information from the edge tablets found at checkpoints over the 7000 steps to high Hrothgar for the most part these tablets tell the story of the infamous dragon war which we'll cover more soon but the first two tablets mention the world before humans existed before the birth of men the Dragons ruled almond Earth's their word was the voice and they spoke only for true needs for the voice could blot out the sky and flood the land men were born and spread over the face of Mundus the Dragons presided over the crawling masses men were weak then and had no voice it seems the Nords believe that men there were only dragons and the chief among these dragons was Alduin the nordic equivalent to akatosh of the Divine's most cultures believe in some form of time God who came into being and gave structure to the intermingling forces of chaos and order change and stace it's for the Nords this was Alduin the Red Guards as I covered in the previous complete guide believe that satyr call the world serpent eats itself when the world must end so that the cycle can begin anew from the dawn Alduin feels a similar role in Nordic doctrine another significant piece of information gathered from the edge tablets is a line that reads men were born and spread over the face of mundus and this aligns perfectly with the creation story posited by the annotated an you and in short the annuit tells the story of the LFA and their separation into old and wandering LFA the old LFA were the ancestors two elves and they were fortunate enough to land on the newly formed world along with their homeland there had been 12 worlds but they'd been destroyed and Anu had been forced to merge the remnants to create one conglomerated world The Wandering own if they were not so lucky they arrived on known scattered amid the confused jumble of the shattered worlds wandering and finding each other over the years so it seems that the Nords do believe in some form or another the notion that the men belonged on Tamriel just as much as the elves but had been dispersed along the way the annuit goes on to say that eventually the wandering owner Fay found the hidden land of old LFA and were amazed and joyful to find their kin living amid the splendor of ages past but this is not a reference to his grimore and his companions know the old and wondering Ellen FA Ward and known was reshaped amidst the devastation the surviving Wanderers were scattered once again and on their new continents they became men some men lived in the east these were the size of a covere others dwelt in the West these were the Red Guards of you CUDA and finally in the north the Nords inhabited the frigid expanses of atmora and this northern land was anything but hospitable vivec the warrior poet and demigod of the dunmer once claimed to have traveled there and he found nothing but frozen bearded kings I mentioned his grimore perhaps the greatest Nordic hero to ever Lee but before we discuss his deeds let's talk about what we do know about atmora and what life would have been like for the men residing there keep in mind we know little about Morra and it's mostly speculation the Nords called it the land of truth the name atmora which is believed to be a bastardization of the elven word alta mora means Elderwood in the LFX language it is often described as a desolate frozen land but it's the name Elderwood suggests ad mora was once more than a barren wasteland passages from songs of the return a retelling of his gramoo's marvellous feats alludes to atmora being a rather verdant continent some examples include on the day a final passage when the many odd fleet would last see the distant green summers of atmora the brothers were near in their father's wake as the freshly joined five hundred would eagerly press onwards towards Tamriel and then it was said to be heard on the distant and chilling green shores of atmora and the ancestors knew their time had come to cross the Seas and finally his heart lived and died in this new land it would forever yearn for the beauties of still green at mora before the freezing took it as you can see this wasn't a one-off remark and sailors venturing north in search of at morris southern shores might just have been welcomed by a very decent coastline in every story I've encountered written by early Nords who saw at mora with their own eyes they speak fondly of the land of truth and their lover at Nora's perfectly exemplified by his grandma's burial site for he chose instead to be buried on the shore facing towards at Mora as we mentioned earlier the Nords believed they originated on the throat of the world which two ancient Nords referred to both the mountain and the landscape around it so when the migrants came to Tamriel from atmora it was considered a homecoming at some point though it isn't explicitly documented the Nords believe they originated in skyrim and relocated to add more along ago this theory could be supported by the undeniable presence of needed humans on Tamriel before his grandma's return but then again the consensus seems to be that those humans migrated from atmora as well establishing their own civilizations before is grandma's famous adventures a lot of what happened in the traffic times is open to interpretation especially because humans were not keeping records of their history at the time one explanation for why iskremas migration became the famous one despite not being the first is because this ancient at more'n King and leader of the great colonizing fleet was wise enough to develop a runic transcription of nord speech based on elvish principles which could then be interpreted by the elven races dominating Tamriel at the time his grammar is therefore considered to be the first human historian just one more impressive deed to add to his list the catalyst for the mass at more'n migration was an event known rather ominously as the freezing Civil War gripped at Mora but as the story of the return suggests there was also an environmental aspect of the turmoil the freezing could be considered a metaphorical blight on atmora as constant conflict made the realm perilous to live in but sources suggest that the freezing was also related to the climate as the green summers and verdant shores gave way to inhospitable treeless Tundra this would also align with a vex recount of atmora he found nothing but frozen bearded kings there was no mention of lush green landscapes what caused this civil war and this freezing isn't clear but there are some fascinating theories that could have some basis in reality or they could simply be folklore according to varieties of faith in the Empire Oriel the time god of the elves established an elven civilization on out mora before ascending to heaven then the Nords were born on the throat of the world and came to out mora to slay v elves by removing Oriels influence elder wood was doomed there's even a theory that the doomed fate of atmora was sealed by the Dragons leaving the continent to move to Tamriel but the latter half of that theory everything beyond the conflict between the up more and elves and the men is heavily conjectured as well we truly know is that mora could no longer be inhabited in many ways it shares similarities to old Maris but that's a topic for another time following the Civil War the Atmore and humans desperately needed a new home or even a homecoming this is where is grimore and the five hundred companions come into play the term Maratha Kara derives from Nordic and translates to era of the elves for most of the Maratha era the name perfectly encapsulates events the elves spread across Tamriel and quickly established themselves as the prominent forces in each province the a weeds built a mighty empire in the heartland of Seerat the Khaimah claimed the northeastern reaches of res Dane the Bosma took the dense forest surveilling word though this is disputed by claims that the Bosma or in fact Native and did not originate from Somerset either way they were undoubtedly the dominant race in the region and the Dharini took the northwestern lands of High Rock it wasn't until the late Maratha era that humans successfully acquired land from the elves though not on their first attempt as grimore led his first wave of that Morin settlers to Skyrim landing at Sarek head the northernmost point of Tamriel the Nords then built a glorious Citadel not too far inland and even in the modern day thousands of years later the remnants of this prodigious city can be seen and explored the city was named saffle at this time Skyrim was no exception to the trend of elven rule across Tamriel the Falmer snow elves presided over the north as well as pockets of Dwemer who held dominion over the subterranean depths the snow elves executed a brutal attack on the currently amicable North's in an event that would be long remembered as the night of Tears it served as the beginning of irresponsible orden elf the exact reason for the sudden attack is obscured by the passage of time but prior to this sources suggests that the snow elves and earlier proto Nordic migrations had coexisted relatively harmoniously until then some scholars who were not so sympathetic to the oven cause claimed the snow elves were merely jealous of their homeland and saw the rise of Safa land a large civilization of humans as a threat to their territory but the more likely cause was that the Falmer had heard rumors of an ancient and powerful artifact presumed to be the eye of Magnus the snow elves must have been concerned that the humans would treat it without the necessary reverence and felt obligated to take the artifact into their own protection once again a skeptic may argue that the snow elves coveted the artifact for themselves Magnus after all was primarily an elven god whatever the cause may be the night of T saw spectacular saffle become the site of copious bloodshed the elves successfully drove the Nords off and is grimore return to a more with the two other survivors his sons Engel and Elgar the Falmer would eventually lament this night as is grewal would return with his 500 companions in tow and no respite would present itself to the fleeing Falmer as they would be systematically pursued and eradicated was is grimore simply ravenous in his desire for revenge or did he to seek to keep another race from learning about the ancient artifact dwelling in the depths of saffle the Great Lord is grimore the harbinger of a soul as the Nord call him sent his two sons to scour at Moor in search of the countenance greatest and most gallant warriors and with these 500 brave souls is grimore and his sons set sail for Skyrim once again this was the legendary return of the at Loren King this time the Nords would simultaneously settle Skyrim and exterminate any elves in their way every man and woman in the expeditionary force was a renowned warrior in atmora there was no dead way some of the warriors include the shield sisters froa and grocer who fought and spoke as one there was also the wisest of at Morris Nordic warriors a war teacher named a dream she brought her most promising students who had forged their fame on the new frontier there was herm Eska who threw his shield Erlich who breathed fire ramped the greater Moe Killian ramp and the farsighted oak who would see the first of many Dawn's the voyage actually began tragically kyon had given them favourable winds but her ministrations were not to be taken lightly and though her blessings gave wind to drive those brave sailors to their destiny so too did her mighty tears fall and the ensuing tempest drove the ships of his grimore sons apart in goal the eldest of his grimore sons died in the storm along with the entire crew of the Herick the king would not accept the reality of his son's fate and once story tells that he commanded the sea ghosts to surrender his kin and a great Gale darken the sky the Seas flashed and churned and a wrathful storm appeared east grimore took up the oars and rode into the storm alone upon the sea is grimore wrestled the sea ghosts and the storm carried him along the jagged coast to fortnight's past without relief until finally the storm broke come the next dawn in the Longboat was found in the icy surf but the vengeful sea ghosts had already taken Ingo and his clansmen in his terrible grief is grimore slew a dozen dozen beasts and burn them in honor of his fallen kinsmen Engels sacrifice and that of his crew would not be in vain as this bad omen was followed by countless victories after killing every elf along the way is grimore in the 500 companions built the great city of Windhelm to the south of Engels Barrow where the King could gaze at his sons resting place from the palace as they conquered Skyrim the Nords Ward with elves and Giants and every potential threat to their future rule over the land when is grimore retook saffle from the snow elves it said that his war cry could be heard all the way across the sea of ghosts to atmora the conquest of skyrim could be summed up by ysgramor own orders go forth he roared into the belly of this new land drive the wretched from their palaces of idleness oblige them to squalor and toil that they would see their betrayals as the all sin against our kind give no quarter show no kindness but they would not give nor show you the same each of the captains gathered their cruise and set about claiming every corner of Skyrim one such captain was jeek of the river captain of the your Vaska cheek was a legend not only for his battle prowess but for discovering the sky Forge and establishing one of the new realms strongest settlements the mead hall of the Companions guild serves as an undying reminder of Jake's deeds eventually the snow elves were forced to retreat to the Isle of soulstone but the sea would not come between is grimore and his vengeance nor had it when he returned from atmora the conflict culminated in the Battle of the most ring in the barren pass of the most renowned tins the Nord spilt so much elven blood that it is said the melting snow carried elf blood back to the sea the Nords were superior on the battlefield but the Falmer had a remarkable leader of their own known as the snow prince he killed the great many men with his spear in his ice magic but was eventually slain by a twelve-year-old girl of all people Joffrey or had fought valiantly she was one of the most formidable of the Nords in battle but the snow Prince cut her down all the same FINA Joffrey yours young daughter witnessed her mother's death she took up her mother's sword and threw it at the prince who sat astride his brilliant steed of pallid white it struck him true straight through the chest and the Saviour of the elves died along with any hope of victory for the MER the five hundred companions won many battles and carried out many heroics that would be immortalized in many songs but simply put they succeeded in their ambitions they avenged the night of Tears and they conquered Skyrim the era of the elves was coming to an end and it seemed as though the time of the Nord had begun but alas there was another race that ruled Skyrim even after the Nord settled the region and these were the Dragons the Nords did not fight the Dragons instead they worshipped them when the ad morons came to Tamriel they brought with them their pagan religion they deified the hawk wolf moth snake Fox bear whale owl and the dragon each of the animal totems resembles a God in the Nordic Pantheon many of which bear similarities to familiar deities from other Tamriel ik religions the hawk as we mentioned earlier is kind and kind is the Nordic equivalent to kin RF and while the parallels are clear enough from the name the ancient Nordic variants of well known gods differ and key respects the Nords are a warrior people and this is reflected in their worship kind the goddess of the storm and warrior widow of Shore not only gave birth to the Nords but she's the kiss at the end when an ore dies their soul is lifted to sovngarde by kind Kiner f is also the god of the winds and the elements and she too carries the dead on her wings to the afterlife but while keener F is a more maternal figure kine is a warrior the wolf is Mara goddess of love and handmaiden to kind the moth astir Bela the goddess of beauty these free goddesses are referred to as the half gods while our next God or Keeper snake is the testing god or key or old knocker is believed to be similar to both Malakoff and RK two entities who wouldn't usually associate with one another the Nords believe that orky tricked the humans into shortening their lifespans he is to blame for humans not living as long as elves initially the trick which bound them to the count of winters shorten the nord lifespan to a measly six years but sure the god hero of man kind lifted much of the curse and placed it upon the nearby orcs speaking of shore the Fox is the first of the two dead gods he's the Nordic equivalent to lorkhan though he's perceived in a much more favorable light by the Nords than by the elves sure as a fox because of his cunning persuading the other gods to create the mortal realm allowing the Nords to exist for this they are eternally grateful the oven gods may have conspired against Shore and betrayed him but he would not be abandoned by the Nords sure as the Ultimate Warrior the kind of figure every Atmore and King models himself after under his leadership humans would always triumph over Alvin oppressors veneration of Shore must have been particularly strong when the Nords removed the oven influence over at Mora and when they wiped out the snow elves nowadays reverence to these old gods seems to be waning but many Nords fighting against the foul more and their imperial puppets undoubtedly whisper prayers to the god king of humanity the other so-called dead God is the bear soon soon as the Nordic analogue to zeniff are though he is betrayed first and foremost as a warrior not a merchant son teaches Nords to overcome adversity he died a valley and death serving as one of Shaw's trusted shield feints ii of shores shield feigns is stern the whale he's the precursor to Stender and like his brother he's a warrior first he's the God of ransom and taught the Nords the advantages of taking prisoners of war those slightly more brutal in nature you can see how this could eventually translate into Sten das merciful forbearance keeping foes alive is an act of mercy a display of Myatt and an opportunity to obtain gold as opposed to just blood Juna Liz the owl the god of hermetic sand knowledge like Julia knows he's the patron of scholarly pursuits but he's noticeably more pagan if Giuliano's is a priest then jun all is a druid fundamentally they are the same but religions differ and therefore so - - their approaches to understanding the universe jounalist the father of language and mathematics and without him we wouldn't have a Nordic history to discuss as no one would have documented it the final of the animal gods is the dragon the chief god of the Nords his name is al doin all doing like Oriel of the elves is linked to akatosh yet has developed his own mythos over the ages when you think of Alduin you of course think of the world leader the self-proclaimed firstborn of akatosh but in ancient times the app morons didn't specifically worship the black dragon who ruled over the Nords of skyrim throughout the late Maratha era they worshiped Alduin the dragon god of time even the dragon cult who we know serve the dragon rulers of skyrim were not initially servant to the world eater it seems these traditions predated anyone physical dragon ruler dragon priests were prevalent in atmora and were in some respects the Nordic equivalents to priests of akatosh but of course the Alduin we will inevitably talk about next is the one who subjugated the hordes of small soft creatures we call humans at the time of his gramoo's conquest dragons were abundant in Skyrim fashioned in a katashi's own image not even the 500 companions would dare challenge their claim to the northern realm instead of fighting the dragons as they fought the elves the Nords knelt before aldo in the world eater and his draconic siblings and the book detailing the dragon war explains the relationship between the settling lords and the dragons dragons being dragons embraced their role as God kings over men they were inherently superior for dragons power equals truth they had the power so therefore it must be true they granted small amounts of power to the dragon priests in exchange for absolute obedience in turn the dragon priests ruled men as equals to kings dragons of course could not be bothered with actually ruling in atmora the dragon priests demanded tribute and set down laws and codes of living that kept peace between dragons and men in Tamriel they were not nearly as benevolent it's unclear if this was due to an ambitious dragon priest or a particular dragon or a series of weak kings whatever the cause the dragon priests began to rule with an iron fist making virtual slaves of the rest of the population remnants of this time when the dragons and their subservient priests ruled over the people can be seen in every Nordic ruin which thanks largely to the preservative nature of the climate have endured the centuries remarkably well eventually the oppression led to rebellion the men fought back against the Dragons and their priests but were greatly outmatched they died in droves until a blessing from kind came elder wins brother in leftenant Paarthurnax defected to the side of men and taught them to use the full the tides of war began to turn and the Nords won many dragons were wiped out and Alduin the world leader was sent forward in time by an elder scroll defeated but he would return and when that day came he would bring his dragon hordes with him to await their return the dragon priests had their followers build dragon mounds to entombed the bones of the fallen masters before laying themselves to rest in barrows of their own their mortal bodies were dormant but kept undying by their followers who over time became draaga with the Dragons dethroned the Nords could rule skyrim uncontested they would inevitably be bothered by groups like the witch men and tribes of orcs but they were the preeminent power in the land now add more and culture adapted to the change in homeland and the new powers kind and paithan axe had bestowed on them greatly impacted the Nordic way of life from warfare to philosophy the Nords have always believed they materialized from the breath of the storm goddess and as such the storm voice meshed perfectly with their beliefs the book titled children of the sky aptly summarizes how the forum affected the Nords the breath and the voice are the vital essence of a nought when they defeat great enemies they take their tongues as trophies these are woven into ropes and can hold speech like an enchantment the power of an awed can be articulated into a shout like the key eye of an AK Avira swordsman the strongest of their Warriors are called tongues when the Nords attack a city they take no siege engines or cavalry the tongues form in a wedge in front of the gatehouse and draw in a breath when the leader lets it out in a key eye the doors are blown in and the axmen rush into the city shouts can be used to sharpen blades or to strike enemies a common effect is the shout that knocks an enemy back or the power of command a strong Nord can instill bravery in men with his battle cry or stop a charging warrior with a roar the greatest of the Nords can call to specific people over hundreds of miles and can move by casting a shout appearing where it lands the most powerful Nords cannot speak without causing destruction they must go gagged and communicate through a sign language and prescribing runes the further north you go into Skyrim the more powerful and elemental the people become and the less they required dwellings and shelters wind is fundamental to Skyrim and the Nords those that live in the far wastes always carry a wind with them this excerpt explains the role of the forum on warfare but what about philosophy how can such a dangerous magic be used in the pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment well after their defeat to the Kaymer and to Emma at Red Mountain in the first era for sixteen one particular tongue named Jurgen wind Cola wondered how their strong voices could fail them and his discovery is best described by the edged tablets found on the ascent to high Hrothgar which is fitting as win caller had traveled the same path long before the 7000 steps were placed the tongues at Red Mountain went away humbled Jurgen win Kohler began his seven-year meditation to understand how strong voices could fail Jurgen wind caller chose silence and returned the 17 disputants could not shout him down Jurgen the calm built his home on the throat of the world after seven years of contemplation wind caller had realized that the storm voice should only be used in times of true need their flippant use of kinds divine gift had seen the Nords begin to lose her favour they used their powers to kill their foes and acquire territory but Cayenne had given them the voice to save them in times of desperation this is why Jurgen chose silenced the 17 disputants were other powerful tongues they were skeptical of his findings and it's not hard to imagine why they had gifts that place them at the heights of Nord society and wind Cola was suggesting they not used them when they shouted at him in dissent the tales tell that Jurgen swallowed their shouts and with it their right to overrule him Jurgen and his followers became known as gray beards and they lived in silent meditation only speaking when a Dragonborn emerged the tenth and final tablet reads the voice is worship follow the inner path speak only in true need the bulk of the Dragons were buried in their mouths once the tongues were keeping to themselves among the heights of the throat of the world and for many centuries to come Nordic society continued to function in its own unique way worship became somewhat more cosmopolitan with the Divine's rising in popularity and rather than counts in an emperor like the Imperials the political structure of Skyrim involved y'alls and a higher king the y'alls have jurisdiction over the nine holds the northern and eastern holds winter hold East March the rift and the pale make up what are known as the old holds the old holds are more traditional maintaining reverence to the animal gods and outsiders are rarely seen the reach is another story altogether this hold only has a slight Nordic majority and has long been a disputed region the reach men would never submit to Nord rule and will war until their extinction in the pursuit of sovereignty over the hold soul Stein was technically a region of Skyrim for much of recorded history it is home to the skull a tribe of isolated Nords who continue to venerate the animal totems as well as their mysterious deity named Leo maker since for Farah 16 the region has become a part of morrowind not as a result of conquest but as a gift from the high king of Skyrim benevolence aside it benefited the Nords to make this compassionate donation to the struggling dunmer as it helped lower the number of elven refugees crossing the Valens in the old holds there is a coming-of-age ritual for budding young warriors they are tasked with venturing into the mountains in the dead of winter to hunt and ice Rafe this gives a youth their right to citizenship and serves as a perfect example of the warrior culture that has existed among Nord since they lived across the sea of ghosts in atmora another thing that persists from ancient times is their disdain for the snow elves the Falmer are a deformed shadow of their former glory yet you don't have to go far to find a nord blaming all his woes on the blind elven creatures lurking in the subterranean caves and ruins the Nords are a superstitious bunch and naming conventions seemed to derive from omens their clever men interpret in special ceremonies a clever man was the name for a Nordic mage a pupil of Jun all but magic has since become a taboo in their region ever since the great collapse of Winterhold the Nords believe the brain and the voice of the vital essences of their people and this is translated to a love for music Nords adore nothing more than sitting by the fire in a cozy tavern listening to the bards play their instruments and seeing of their historic heroes while drinking mead which coincidentally is made from fermented honey and is known to soothe the throat the other noteworthy art comes in the form of their signature stone carvings devoted to the gods these beautiful works of masonry can be found deep in old Nordic ruins which are equally breathtaking to behold Nordic architecture is not only built to last but it is completely distinct from typical building conventions the grand stone arch is intricately carved and topped with ornate statues can be seen from leagues away some are built on the sides of mountains and look from a distance like the ribs of some ancient behemoth even the average Nordic house is masterfully crafted they're built partially underground to conserve hate and use a combination of heavy stones wooden supports and fat roofs to create sturdy buildings capable of enduring anything Nature throws at them the northern chills dictate the clothing worn by the north of Skyrim this means animal skins as well as a lot of wool and cotton the final piece of nerd culture dimension is the significance of the Dragonborn archetype the Dragonborn has been a part of Nordic legends since ancient times the bards would tell tales of heroes who had killed dragons and still their power where the Greybeards are quick to offer a warning to anyone born with the Dragonborn gift they say that the ease with which a dragon born can learn the form by passing years of training tends to make them arrogant and this may have caused the downfall of numerous ancient heroes just how many dragonborns have existed is not known but their role in Nordic tradition is important as songs of Skyrim the book compiling the popular Nord songs suggests the dragon born in Nord culture is the archetype of what a Nord should be they have the ability to rally soldiers inspire loyalty and bring hope the presence of a dragon born immortal blessed with the blood and soul of a dragon by a guitar has been at the heart of many of Tamriel's major events the history of Skyrim and the Nords frequently features one dragon born or another so let's talk about the history of the Nords starting where we left off after the dragon war we've talked already about the failure of the form in the foothills of Red Mountain and Jurgen Winkle are introducing the way of the voice but prior to that battle early in the first era there are a few names worth mentioning in the year 113 herald the 13th of his grandma's bloodline successfully unified Skyrim and he became the high king in 143 the jagged crown the symbol of office in Skyrim was supposedly introduced in Harold's reign and the mood was introduced after his 78 year reign ended the Moot was the system used in Skyrim to elect a High King a representative from each hold would convene to select a new High King from the bloodline of the deceased predecessor in first era 241 Harold son hiking rage the gifted began the Skyrim conquests an ambitious attempt to expand scarran's borders east and west they eventually decided against going south as the Jura mountains proved too great a barrier while northern cyrodiil proved too poor a prize the conquests were a resounding success and within fifty years this new empire of the Nords controlled much of modern-day high rock and all of morrowind the Empire in Jordan til the Year 369 when hiking Baugus was assassinated by the wild hunter Valen wood this was the end of his grimore dynasty Skyrim was divided once more into individual kingdoms the ground they had gained was lost and we know from Jurgen Winkle a story that the Nords failed in reclaiming morrowind in first era to 703 the Nords were on the front lines of a foreign invading force the snake men of akavir landed on scarrans north coast after navigating the sea of ghosts and they swiftly cut their way through skyrim the Nords as we know were not the types to meet invasions with pictures of made and they put up a fight but in the end they were no match for the akaviri dragon guard there likely would have been significantly more fatalities were it not for the fact that the cisely seemed to be searching for something they showed little interest in systematically wiping out the populace of skyrim establishing strongholds and opposing local leaders instead they pushed on to the pale paths where they found what they were looking for Reem and cyrodiil the Dragonborn riemann was one of the first of the documented Dragonborns and his ability to stop the invading force in their tracks an invading force that tore through the battle-hardened ranks of Northmen was no small feat if this was not caused enough to bend the knee before raymond recalled just how important the Dragonborn archetype is to the Nords for the first time in their history the Nords pledged themselves to a foreign ruler when Tiber Septim came to the imperial throne the Nords were once again willing to bend the knee to a worthy Dragonborn ruler while they did swear fealty there were times when conflicts arose between Skyrim and Cyrodiil one such instance involved the wolf queen patema the team of the aunt of empress Cantera launched a rebellion in furred era 120 patema wish to have her son Uriel Septim the third crowned as emperor the rebellion eventually ended in failure and both mother and son were killed in fur dara 397 skyrim was back to its first era antics and in the war of the bender mark the Nords claimed huge chunks of high rock and hammer fell the fourth era which began shortly after one of Tamriel's biggest existential crises has seen skyrim face a great deal of adversity firstly the suffering dunmer of morrowind saw red mountain erupted and were faced with an Argonian invasion this led to an overwhelming number of refugees seeking asylum in skyrim they had little choice but to give source time to the Dark Elves in order to stifle the influx of refugees and after the great war between the Imperials in the Aldmeri Dominion Skyrim was one of the two remaining provinces loyal to the crumbling Empire when the white gold Concordat outlawed Tallis worship a figure of great importance to the religious northerners Civil War became inevitable the traditional old holds rallied behind the Stormcloaks in their nationalist leader Ulfric Stormcloak while the Western holds honored their allegiance with the Empire around the year 225 years after the Great War Ulfric challenged hiking Touareg to a jewel some say Ulfric used the film to bring toric to his knees before cutting him down with his sword others claim Oryx storm voice literally tore the young High King to pieces whatever truly happened not as this challenge achieved little those who aligned with the Stormcloaks claimed Ulfric was now the rightful high king those who opposed the Stormcloaks claim there was nothing honorable about the challenge civil war rages across skyrim and the outcome is yet to be confirmed the fate of Tamriel hangs in the balance and the Nords of skyrim are at the heart of the story as they so often are it's only fitting that the best places you can go to learn of the rift between the east and west of skyrim are the taverns you can find the truth of nordic sentiments by listening to the bards sing you may hear it's the age of aggression down with Ulfric the killer of kings on the day of your death will drink and we'll sing or you may hear the age of oppression or hail - off Rick you are the High King in your great honour we drink and we sing but whatever side at noir takes they are Nords first and foremost and nothing will unite the children of the sky like the old mary dominion trying to subjugate them the songs couldn't be more politically opposed yet they end exactly the same with the children of skyrim and we fight all our lives and when sovngarde beckons every one of us dies but this land is ours and we'll see it wiped clean of the Scourge that has sullied our hopes and our dreams and that wraps up the complete guide to the Nords of skyrim i hope you enjoyed the video thanks so much for watching I've been drew this has been fudge Muppet and I'll see you in the next one [Music]

Channel: FudgeMuppet

Views: 204,309

Rating: 4.9398379 out of 5

Keywords: skyrim, elder scrolls, skyrim lore, elder scrolls lore, fudgemuppet, nord, nords, nord lore, complete guide to nords, atmora, elder scrolls online, atmorans, nords lore, nords of skyrim, nords elder scrolls

Id: kmLOzfYIACc

Length: 39min 26sec (2366 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 21 2020