I think the history of the 1st Era is going to become very relevant to what's going on in Skyrim. I think history may be repeating itself. Consider the following points of Skyrim history:

1. The High King of Skyrim has been murdered before. His name was Borgas, and he was killed by the Wild Hunt in 1E 369. This triggered the War of Succession, a civil war that resulted from the Moot (committee whose job it is to appoint a new King) failed to choose the most obviously qualified candidate, the Jarl of Winterhold. The Wild Hunt is a power attributed to the Bosmer (wood elves). In the Wild Hunt, animal and forest gods that go on a great hunt, killing everything in its path. (See here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Wars along with http://www.uesp.net/...ldmeri_Dominion )

2. The FIrst (human) Empire in Tamriel was Nordic. http://www.uesp.net/...re_of_the_Nords

3. Once upon a time, the Nords settled in northern Skyrim. They were fleeing war in their homeland, Atmora. Their arrival in Skyrim, however, is referred to as a "return" in the so called "Song of Return" (if anyone knows where the contents of this song can be read, please post a link). It's referred to as a return because their myths say that they were born at first when the sky breathed upon the Throat of the World (High Hrothgar). So when they came to Skyrim, they were returning to their true homeland.

4. Once settled in Skyrim, the Nords built the great city, Saarthal, under the command of their great, mythical leader, Ysgramor. But the elves of Tamriel were jealous of the Nords and their rising power and decided to put them down. They burned Saathal to ashes in what is now known as the Night of Tears. ( http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Saarthal ) Ysgramor and his two sons alone escaped. They returned to Atmora and brought 500 companions with them and vented their rage on the elves, eventually winning the war. One of them was Pelinal Whitestrake. ( http://www.uesp.net/...nal_Whitestrake )

5. In one of these battles, the elven Snow Prince was killed by a 12 year old Nordic girl. ( http://www.uesp.net/...the_Snow_Prince ) I include this tidbit because the story has a lot of historical details in it, but also because it is a particularly embarrassing event for the elves, perhaps one they just never got over.

6. The First Empire was begun with the 13th King to follow in Ysgramor's footsteps some 240 years later, King Vrage. ( http://www.uesp.net/...re_of_the_Nords )

7. Other helpful links:
http://www.uesp.net/..._Edition/Skyrim

http://www.uesp.net/...at_of_the_World

http://www.uesp.net/...ntier,_Conquest

So in reading all of these things, a number of questions come to mind. First, who killed the High King of Skyrim? If the old maxim, "history repeats itself" is any indication, my guess would be that elves killed him, like they had done once before, perhaps utilizing the Wild Hunt (if any of you are Dresden Files fans, think of the Erlking).



What we do know for sure is that the Empire is in decline. This means that other, perhaps long dormant powers will see this as an opportunity. Why not the elves, who once ruled Tamriel? ( http://www.uesp.net/...ldmeri_Dominion and http://www.uesp.net/...ldmeri_Dominion ). If that's what's going on, you can bet that Ulfric's rise to claim the throne is motivated by the Nords' memories of the Night of Tears and their centuries-long feud with the elves that ensued. Their concern is that history is repeating itself, and they intend to stop it.

We don't know that the Mede Empire is in decline, first off, and I think ve said it before, the Thalmor don't want to rule humanity, they won't to destroy it, the world and make sure neither happen again.

You want a better correlation of events from Tamrielic History that resemble that of the events portrayed in Skyrim? Look at the end of the 2nd era. You have to look bit deeper than the timeline UESP gives you. There are accounts of Dragons lounging around the Imperial City and there are several parallels with the events of Skyrim. Thalmor and the Aldmeri Dominion. Dragons. etc. etc.

That seems to pretty much be the entire point of the story, yes. History repeating itself.

So then, where are all the lore junkies to help me understand the past in order to help me understand what's going on in Skyrim? I frankly feel quite overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to dig deep into the lore, but I feel unable to understand what's going on in Skyrim without doing so. The only solution I see is for some lore expert to write a thread explaining it all, some kind of summary to help me (and others who don't want to spend whole days reading lore) understand.

This is a plea for help. Lore junkies, please post explanations! We need you!

What is it exactly that you do not understand? The Universe is in a constant state of play, pause, stop, rewind and play.

It's not that I have some facts and fail to grasp their significance. It's that I lack the facts.

I don't know the history of Tamriel very well at all. I don't know about the different factions and politics current in Skyrim. I don't understand the Legion, the Thalmor, the Stormcloaks, etc.

I guess what I'm looking for is a basic summary of the situation so that I can THEN proceed to dig deeper into the lore in order to learn more. But as it stands, right now I feel totally overwhelmed and don't know where to begin. :shakehead:

Start here. It was in front of your eyes the whole time. You should of acted... http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/15282-elder-scrolls-lore-faq/

thanks

As Albinodunmer said, Skyrim resembles the end of the 2nd era more than the 1st (mostly because the 1st was a really, really long era that wasn't characterized by any one thing in particular).

Civil war, unstable empire. Rise of a great Dragonborn (Tiber & you). Medes as Akaviri Potentates, holding precarious power but not the true destined rulers. Prominence of Dragons. And then there's the possibility of Talos having prevented an end of the world (as mentioned in the recently posted letters).

No doubt, but I was always of the mind that the "new history" of Alduin's first defeat, not mentioned in prior lore, would have occurred in the 1000 year or so gap in history that we have from the first era, following the Dragon Break of the Marukhati Selectives.

I need some clarification, but did the battle where the snow prince fell actually take place in Solstheim? It seems unclear to me, and if it didn't did the Nords drag his body all the way to his homeland? I hope this story is more fleshed out in Skyrim because it is one of my personal favorites. The Falmer have always seemed interesting to me.

I don't know that that history will repeat itself, but then, they say Falmer are in Skyrim so it may yet. But the Snow Prince fell on Solstheim.

The Mede dynasty has thus far not been strong enough to hold the Empire together, and they got the stink beat off of them by the Thalmor. They are essentially a puppet monarchy at this point, I would wager. It's pretty plain to me that the Medes lack that certain Septim something.

I think I may have missed these, can you post a link please?

I think they're talking about http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1249697-on-boethiahs-summoning-day/.