I've been wondering this for quite a while now. I have seen many posts and speculation but nothing concrete in the Lore. Or maybe I didn't look hard enough.

I know Dunmer can live to be 1000 years old if not a bit older. I do know the Human races live to be 100, so they are typical to our lives really. But what about the other races? Speculation led me to believe the Beast races have the same lifespan of Human races, but what are the concrete facts here?

Elves live a lot longer than humans, that's all I know xD

Tbh I think argonians live shorter, many eggs but less lifespan

kinda been wondering this myself

Dunmer nobles could live to an upwards of 200 years. Dunmer commoners were less than 100 I believe.

Elves live the longest (unless you kill them)
The human races are very similar to us (around 78-90 year lifespan more depending on their life)

Edit: Apparently Dark Elves can life for up to 1000 years most don't make it they generally live to the age of 800-900?

This should help you.
www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1169662-typical-life-span-of-the-races/

I don't think Dunmer live that long on average. An http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Interview_with_a_Dark_Elf with a Dunmer implies that they live around 150-200 years, while "purer" dunmer can live 300+(Benezia for example).
Mages live longer than others, if I remember correctly and that might be some of the reason of the Altmers long lifespan since they are very gifted magicians.
Bosmer probably have similar lifespans to the Dunmer.
All Elven races may have the potential to live for 1000 years, but this is probably tied closely to the respective traits in the families.
Nord, Imperial and Redguard live 70-90 years I think, but Bretons may live longer since they have both Nedic and Aldmeri ancestry.
Orcs may have similar lifespan to the human races, even if they are elves.
I have no idea how long Argonians and Khajiit live.

I thought I remembered hearing they live long lives in phases, where there gender and other core attributes may change, forget where though.

All the elves, with the exception of Orcs can live from around 150-500 years, with High Elves living the longest.
Human races are about the same as us.
Beast races and Orcs, for some reason I believe to be about 60. Didn't the Orcs get cursed or something, that's why they're called "Corrupted Elves"?

There's conflicting lore on the matter. So choose what you will. One source says 1000 years but another a mere, pathetic 200 years for elves.

yes they were cursed but so were the dunmer, so they may have the potential but it is unknown. i have a feeling that it is the 1000 like people keep saying but like someone above they said many do not aquire that age as they are often killed of, so the more civil the elf the longer it lives :tongue: so it is entirely possible that dark and high elfs to live that long, i think theres mention or fact of it somewhere in the real barehnziah or her biography set. could be wrong though folks :teehee:

I think you want this forum friend http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/forum/16-elder-scrolls-lore/

oh! And have one of these http://images.uesp.net/c/c4/Fishystick.jpg

Of the elven races, High Elves live the longest, being the most radical "pure breeders" of the elves, and their magic keeping them going for beyond 1000 years. :dance:

Too lazy to rewrite on this subject, so I'll use what I said in the link TT provided


This info was taken from what's been said and written about.

Wow that is a ridiculous amount of time for elves to live. Yet it doesn't seem to show in their wisdom :whistling: in fact that should be more skilled at everything than nearly everyone else even considering diminishing returns.

Yeah I wonder if it's proportionate though, or they spend their 900 years as seniles :laugh: Not such a gift anymore then.

The Elves appear to be much less ambitious than man by nature. They're "anuic" by nature, that is, static.

They only become fertile when population pressure is low and therefore don't have the same vainglorious drive to expand or try and conquer their neighbors.

One of the Altmer's gods, Phynaster, is revered for how he taught them to live an extra hundred years by walking in a more "anuic" fashion.

So yeah, even though they're longer lived, they aren't really using that extra time in the same way that a man would.

Thanks for the links and general help guys. I see now that this is an on-going thing. I guess the only thing that is 100% sure is Elves live the longest, and Human races tend to reflect IRL lifespans.

This appears to be a very common theme in literature, which TES has borrowed. Ambition is, in essence, a derivative of a short life and the realization that if you don't get things moving, you will miss out on a lot. Lengthen things out, and people feel that they have more room to burn time, and get around to 'meaningful things'... whenever they get around to it.

Not sure if the effects would be as extreme as say, doing as little in 1000 years as another person does is 80... but the basic principal seems to pan out even IRL (to whatever limited observable extent).

Also, it is 100% certain the search button should be used more often. There are alot of great threads just waiting to be searched for.