OK, so has anyone ever wondered if Tamriel is Earth a long time ago. I know there are things in the TES world that disqualify it from being much like the real world, but it changes rapidly. Countries, continents get nuked, moons fall out of the sky, the world changes so drasticly and rapidly, I don't think it too far out to thing it could potentially be Earth.

I know it sounds like a stupid question, but I'm still curious and I'd love to hear some debate on the matter

Edit: Sorry, I meant to post this in the lore forum but I got mixed up because I hven't slept for 48 hours. Can a mod please move this?

You mean that the western side of Tamriel looks like Western Europe and the possibility that TES is like Lord of the Rings?

The issue is way too philosophical and too indepth to simply answer.

But in short: Yes, it's likely.

In short: No, what on Earth are you talking about? :blink:

Geographically, politically, culturally, ethnically, socially, financially, militarily, economically, religiously, and undeniably, Tamriel has nothing to do with the real world. Parts of it do, obviously, but they're the minority.

Tamriel has sheep.

We have sheep.

The truth is out.

I [censored] hope not.

Indeed. I don't want any Daedra or Cliff Racers showing up on my lawn.

A lot of fundamental things like what stars are (tears in Oblivion showing the Aetherium as opposed to gigantic balls of flaming gas), what that black stuff between them is (Oblivion, as opposed to a total lack of anything, and dark matter), how genetics work, and a whole lot of other basic universal laws are completely different from our world. Then there's also all the magic and semi-physical gods that are ever-so-slightly conspicuously absent from our world. So basically, no, it is not in the least bit possible for Nirn to be our world in any way, shape, or time period.

The man's on to something

Tamriel has magic

We don't have magic

The truth is out.

Unless you want to say that officially canonized lore is wrong, then no this is impossible. All of what Gallow said aside, in Tamriel the whole world is just a dream. Not to mention that there are no Towers in our world, and if they disappeared then the whole world would disappear as well.

Indeed there are parts that share similarities with Earth, but the differences are too drastic unless you completely ignore lore. And we're not too kind on doing that in these parts

Tamriel is just a continent. Naturally, a single continent cannot be the 4 billion year old rock we know as Earth.

edit: there's also the fundamentally different ways in which our universe and the tes universe work, among other things.

The one thing that completely rules this possibility out is the matter of how physics and astronomy work in the Mundus. Our stars aren't views into Aetherius, nor is space Oblivion, nor have I counted two moons up in the sky any time recently. The climates are similar because Bethesda Softworks is run by human beings like you and I and decided to draw inspiration from, well, Earth. Would you prefer if Tamriel was in tricolor like a Dr. Seuss book?

EDIT: Interestingly enough, this reminds me of that fantastically innovative LucasArts game LOOM. Despite its presence of magic, divination, and a rather medieval setting, a tombstone suggests that the game takes place in the 8000s. Possibly our own Earth following a destruction of humanity and its eventual rebuilding, now once again in the middle ages. That whole "mankind over-expands and soon collapses, and the cycle of history repeats again" thing.


What a fool you are. I am a God!

Lol I think the TC is asking if its the same in the way that middle earth is like our world but in a earlier age.

Middle Earth has its magic,gods,different races, but over time they began to fade as the age of humans dawned and the modern world took shape.

Stonefrog, things can change. For example, someone might decide randomly to pull one of those moons down on Nirn, *cough* landfall *cough*.

Magic may have simply faded from meory as technology became more efficient, or maybe, like in your example, TES is after the real world.

Tamriel exists in the same place in this world as Middle Earth, Fantasia, Narnia and other fantasy universes - in the human imagination.

Corrected

What about the infinite multiverse?

I'm a man of science....I personally don't consider Quantum Physics to fall under that realm either.

But there IS a certain theory that promotes the idea that everything mankind has ever dreamed up actually exists somewhere, on some plane. I don't claim to know everything, so maybe that's true. But I've dreamed some horrible, nasty things myself and I consider myself civilized. I shudder to think that others may have conjured into being...

This,there could be a planet out there in space that in some way resembles Nirn.Also to the OP the better question is "Could Nirn or Tamriel represent the real world in some way?".

That still doesn't account for the fundamental differences between how various things work, like the aforementioned stars, space, and genetics. Stars can't go from being holes in Oblivion to being gigantic fusion reactors or vice-versa, no matter how long you wait, just like space can't go from being nothing to being Oblivion.

Tamerial is place that is made up by people, developers, etc
So that universe could only resemble our world if it was intended by the developers, etc.

Since the developers, etc haven't made the world into a "Thundarr the barbarian" ripoff I would assume it isn't our world.

Unless, their saving that Big twist for the later games

TES V: The mystical power of the Hoover Dam.

"Discover the lost and ancient secrets of Los Vegasians"

oh wait thats the new fallout game.

When Marin told me "Dagon cannot be slain by any weapon I possess," I don't think he figured we'd have the firepower we have now.

I hope it's the case. Have those Daedric Princes invade, we'll just blow them to pieces.

It's one of those Earth copy cats out in the huge universe.

But honestly, no very little chance. The majority of the Earths basic history has been found out. I mean unless at some point after the Earths creation the world that was Tamriel was completely wiped from all the land and seas, leaving bio molecules to morph into what we have today, but very unlikely at the most.

And if it were true then Bethesda must have some extremely advanced historians if they dug up that kind of past =p

LOL,I can imagine being in history class and the teacher telling the class of how Mehrunes Dagon a long lost god try to destroy the long lost empire of Tamriel but been defeated by a brave hero lost in history and a emperor turning into a avatar of a long lost god to defeat him. :rofl: