Elvish mithril and Argonian silver, crumble I can.
But first, I improve all created by man.
I devour all things,
Bird and beast, serfs and kings.
Though my pace is even, men curse my speed,
Wishing I were lazier in their hour of need.
I can creep and crawl, or rush, even fly.
I am all thou hast.
Tell me, who am I?

I was just going through the Imperial Library, as all good little lore nuts should, and I stumbled across this riddle (okay, I was on a bit of a Kothringi kick thanks to the Alessia thread and I remembered reading the riddle a while back), and it got me thinking.

Now, this riddle was from Arena, and the elves (presumably Altmer) making mithril is a little too Tolkien/D&Dish for the modern Elder Scrolls games (not that it's necessarily a bad thing), but if we assume that this riddle is still accurate, it would imply silver mining is a big industry in Black Marsh. Makes sense, as Black Marsh isn't exactly infested with lycanthropes (Mere-Glim in The Infernal City even says Were-Crocodiles aren't real, which implies they either never were, or the Argonians and their silver weapons wiped them out).

I mean, if I was a Werewolf or whatever, the last place on Nirn I'd want to go is someplace where silver weapons come from.

So yeah. That brings me to the Kothringi, that silver-skinned extinct tribe of humans from Black Marsh and the Topal Bay area. If silver is mostly or extensively mined in Black Marsh, and an ethnic group from the area was/is known for having silver skin, to me that sort of cries that they're related somehow. People have been mining on Earth for roughly 40,000 years, so it's not unreasonable that a tribal society on Nirn would do the same.

So, could it be that the Kothringi weren't actually silver-skinned at all, but rather that they were just covered in a silver residue from their mining, or it somehow polluted their water supply and they got covered in it that way?

I mean, there's really no way to prove or disprove it, being that all we have to go on is a few lines in the PGE and the 2920 books which said they were silver-skinned, but I thought I'd just put it out there.

Yea, I suppose its plausible. However, its quite the stretch based on outdated references. I've always viewed the silver-skinned Korthi as just another species of Argonians and the real Korthi as just another species of humans. Other than that, maybe they were very pale and sweaty, and hence glistened? :unsure2:

3rd (most likely, to me) possibility in regard to werecrocks: they are rare, and therefore considered an urban legend.

Black Marsh seems to had strange effects on human physiology. If Orma had lost their eyes, I assume that Kothringi could become naturally silver-skinned the same way.

By the way, Kothringi and Korthi are the same tribe?

It could also be metaphoric. Like having a silver-tongue. Or something.

Nothing comes immediately to mind about what it might refer to though. But I am rather tired right now.

I like Nerevar's theory of a pale-skinned tribe who seem to glisten in the moonlight like Silver.

A bit too Twilight-y, but it makes sense. =)

Kothri is the adjective(?) form of Kothringi. Like the Kothri language or a Korthi village. Its also me being a lazy typist in regard to the name.

I'm hesitant to accept that theory, as the 2920 books (while obviously fiction, well, more ficticious than the other books anyway) outright describe Lord Zuuk as having metallic, reflective skin.

It don't seem to be adjective in Adabal-a... Hmm. It sounds more like Gots and Visigoths to me.