I am quite confused on what the exact differences between the tradtional Thu'um and the Dragon Shouts. I know they are similar, but I don't understand what the difference is other than that the Dragon Shouts are spoken in the Dragon language.
Could someone explain this to me?

I could be wrong but I think other than the fact that Dragon Shouts can only be uttered by something with the soul of a dragon. I also think Thu'um is likely less restricted than Dragon Shouts but Dragon Shouts are more powerful.

Well, dragon shouts are specific words of power. Thu'um is simply the language behind it right?

Or is Thu'um the language of ancient nords? o_O Not sure about that.

That might be right. From what I have read on the Thu'um(in-game books and stuff) those who become very powerful with it have to go gagged(or simply not speak) so they won't cause destruction, while the Dragon Shouts have no power if spoken in the common toungue of Tamriel, but they are more "focused".
I hope this is expanded on in the books and lore we discover in Skyrim.

They are the same thing. 'Dragon Shouts' from the looks of it is not a term that will be appearing in-game; it has only been used in PR material so far. The GI article on the nature of the shouts made it clear that they are Thu'um, or 'The Voice'.

Why is Thu'um as read about in books so much more awesome? Gameplay, etc. But it sounds like there will be some big Thu'um moments with the Greybeards, anyway. Who knows if there may be some moments in the main plot where it really gets unleashed.

That is what I had hoped, but in another thread soemone insisted that the Thu'um and Dragon Shouts was different so I became unsure. Thanks for clearing that up :thumbsup:

Aw, I loved that in-game lore book talking about the Thu'um it made the Nords seem so epic....now I gotta look it up again on the wiki.....

Which one? I might have read it, but would love to do so again

I think it might be something like that, though it may also be that both terms are used in game in some way, with "dragon shouts" being to "Thi'um" what "dwarves" are to "Dwemer". In any case, from a PR standpoint, using "Dragon shouts" is more convenient, because no one not familiar with Elder Scrolls lore is going to have any idea what "Thu'um" is, on the other hand, "dragon shouts" may still require a bit of explaining, but the name gives a clearer picture of what you're talking about than "Thu'um" does.

Found it: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Children_of_the_Sky.
(Sure seemed longer when it was in book format in Morrowind)

Although it never refers to Thu'um, it does talk about the 'Tongues', and how their level of power could be tremendous. I think this is the book that provided the base of the Thu'um idea for this game. My character was in Solthiem at the time he read this, so I thought it was pretty cool to learn of such powerful Nords. It made me really want to visit mainland Skyrim, so I could see these powerful Tongues of the far north.....well now I guess I will!

It refers to the "Voice" though which is the common toungue name for Thu'um

Yeah, I think looking at some of the description of the Tongues powers might reveal some possible abilities we may have a characters through Thu'um. For instance increasing our attack power "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.' Interesting possibilities, especially if these effects can be combined.

They're same one.
Dragon shouts or thu'ums are spoken in Dragon Language.
Master Voices and The Tongues are the same as well. Those who can speak the language are known as Dovahkiin or Dragonborn.
That's it.

I was thinking just now, and one idea that I had was this: The Tongues used 'The Voice' as a form of wind magic. It seems that they were common enough to not all be dragonborn (could be wrong). But perhaps Dragons use the same form of magic yet are able to increase its power through the use of Draconic (perhaps its a more powerful language in which to carry their Voice). And if it's the use of Draconic that sets the dragon's magic above normal Tongues abilities, then it would make sense that only a dragonborn could activate the magic within the draconic language.

So basically:

Humans--->Human languages + Wind Magic----> The Voice
Dragons & Dragonborn-----> Draconic + Wind Magic----->most powerful form of The Voice?

Edit: I looked at http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Thu%27um in the Wiki, and it seems to support, or at least it doesnt disprove my idea. There is no mention of normal Tongues using draconic in their use of The Voice, but at the end it specifically states Dragonborn using draconic.

So basically I think Thu'um and Dragon Shouts are the same type of magic, but Dragon Shouts are more powerful.

I think your idea on this might be right, but who knows? I guess we find out when the game comes out or they tell us before that.

I'm absolutely sure that Todd called the Dragon Shouts Thu'um in one of the recent (or maybe not recent, don't quite remember) interviews. His mouth looks weird when he says "th", so I remembered it. And even if he didn't say that, it was pretty much obvious, because they said that Grey Beards are the jedi of Dragon Shouts, and we know that they are Thu'um masters

And on your theory, I don't think you are right, because the Dragon Shouts were referred to as "the words of power", so it looks like the power is basically in the words. And they said that others use Dragon shouts, but are weaker in them, no word of the common languge shouts.

Well, I was just combining the Children of the Sky, and the Thu'um article, but in the end the actual game and its mechanics trump older peices of lore (i.e. Cyrodil being a temperate forest instead of a jungle)

isn't it stated only Dragon born can use Dragon shouts? all nords are Dragon born?

to use Dragon shouts or to get the ability to learn them you need to defeat a Dragon right?


Dragons are just now returning and Thu'um has been around since the nords came to Tamriel


How can Thu'um be Draconic when the Language of Dragons has been unknown? as well as the Origin of Thu'um

so in other words...

dragon shouts and Thu'um use the same method to unleash power in the voice, but differ in the words used as the dragon language is restricted to dragons and dragonborn.

my guess is that even if you know how to read or speak dragon language, it's a whole other story to know how to use it.

Thats what drove me to my theory above, but as we all know, lore can be altered if the Devs want it to be.

Ok. First off, it has been said there are a few NPC's that have this ability, but not nearly on a scale of what you have. Thu'um is in fact Draconic, simply Draconic words of power. The Dragons speak fire, they speak this, they speak that, so they use this ability as well. They are the original users of it.

1) No it isn't. Dragonborn are just much, much more powerful in it. It was stated that Draugr and the Grey Beards can use the Dragon Shouts, and since you are the last Dragonborn, they aren't. I'm making a note here: Dragon Shouts, not Thu'um.

2)No you don't. At least it was never confirmed. It was stated that you defeat the dragon, then you get the ability. But it's not like you couldn't get it otherwise.

3)&4) As you say, They were around thousands of years ago (supposedly in Atmora, since there's no single sign of so genocidally hostile dragons in lore), that was when the Nords have learnt the Dragon Language and created the art known as Thu'um. Then they were driven away, and now they are returning. And stuff like that the powerful Tongues couldn't speak without causing destruction could easily be just legend, or be made just a legend to put Dragon Shouts into the lore

And again, I remember quite well from one of Todd's interviews that he has called the Dragon Shouts "the Thu'um". There were very many of them, so you will have to watch all of them again yourself, or just trust me. :foodndrink:

Vokun Viing

Little correction - dragons land is Akavir, not Atmora.
And Master Voices can thu'um too.


I think this topics place is in Lore forum.

I am pretty sure Todd states that you don't learn shouts from dragons... You absorb their souls for what I don't know. An that you get the words from walls in ruins. And that this ability is unique to dragonborn

:facepalm:
I know, I but there's no Nords in Akavir, huh?
It's just my theory: since we know that the dragons were driven away thousands of years ago and we don't have any mention of that in Tamriel lore, maybe we have to look for it in Atmora - the continent nords came from?
And people you are referring to are Tongues, and we don't know if they are still around. The Voice is a mere translation of the word Thu'um from nordic, not a person