History

Although Nords intermingled with other races over the years, it is primarily to Atmora, the northernmost known place on Nirn, that they trace their lineage. Atmora is likely a human corruption of "Altmora", a name found in old Elvish records which means "Elder Wood". Legends say that Atmora was once very green and prosperous, until "the freezing" turned it into an inhospitable wasteland plagued by civil war, causing its people to migrate to Tamriel in waves throughout the Merethic and First eras. During this migration, the chieftain Ysgramor rallied people from all sides who desired to live in peace and set sail south, eventually arriving at Hsaarik Head, at the extreme northern tip of Skyrim's Broken Cape. They named the new land "Mereth" in tribute to the Aldmeri Elves who had already settled most of the continent. Contrary to many stories, which apparently credit Ysgramor with being the leader of the first group of human settlers, he and his colonists were the latest in a long line of emigrants from Atmora to Skyrim, and many had already migrated to other places around Tamriel.

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The Return

Elves and men lived in relative peace and prosperity for a great deal of time, but racial tensions grew along with the human population, and eventually violence erupted. It's unclear how it started, but the Elves razed the Nordic capital city of Saarthal, killing the defenders and everyone unable to flee, in a slaughter now known as the Night of Tears. According to legend, the only humans to survive were Ysgramor and his two sons, who fled back to Atmora, where they gathered the famous Five Hundred Companions and sailed back to expediently slaughter any Elves they came across, founding new cities as they went and clearing the way for new settlers. During this time, the Nords also frequently waged war with the various Giant clans of Skyrim and Ysgramor purportedly slaughtered hundreds of Giants himself. Despite these early conflicts, the presence of Giants remained throughout the province in the eras that followed, although both races largely kept to themselves.

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The Five Hundred's great achievements and acts of heroism cemented them and their leader Ysgramor as role models in Nordic culture. Their legacy is purportedly carried on by the Companions, a group of nonpartisan mercenaries who are renowned as impartial arbiters on matters on honor. Ysgramor's descendant King Harald, who is credited with first uniting the province under its customary borders in 1E 113, drove the last of the Elves out of the province in 1E 143. Despite heavy resistance, Elves were also driven from Solstheim, a small island northeast of Skyrim, which would be predominantly inhabited by Nords for thousands of years to come.

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The Dragon War

Dragons were revered as part of the Nordic religion. Dragon priests, on par with kings in terms of the power they wielded, acted as intermediaries between the people and the serpentine "god-kings", whose name could not even be uttered by the common folk. Temples were built to honor and appease the dragons, many of which survive today as ancient ruins haunted by draugr and undead dragon priests. The dragon priests in Tamriel became more tyrannical and the populace eventually rebelled some time in the Merethic Era, leading to the legendary Dragon War. Some dragons turned against their own kind and taught the Nords powerful magic that allowed them to turn the tide of the war in their favor. After a long and bloody campaign, the rule of the dragons was ended, and the remaining wyrms fled to remote areas. The Dragon Cult survived for a time, but was marginalized and eventually died out. Other traditional Nordic beliefs, known as the Old Ways, continued on, and remained prevalent among Nords even after the introduction of the Divines.

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The Skyrim Conquests

In 1E 241, King Vrage the Gifted (Harald's son) began the aggressive expansion now known as the Skyrim Conquests, which would culminate in the First Empire of the Nords. Within a span of fifty years, the descendants of Ysgramor ruled all of northern Tamriel, including most of present-day High Rock and the whole of Morrowind. Some Nord leaders wanted to turn south to Cyrodiil, but the Jerall Mountains proved to be too big a barrier, and northern Cyrodiil too poor a prize.

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Over the next few centuries, Skyrim expanded and contracted as battles were won and lost. The Conquests, and the Empire, came to an end in 1E 369 with the death of King Borgas, the last of the Ysgramor line, during the Wild Hunt. When the ruling council or Moot was unable to choose Jarl Hanse of Winterhold (considered the obvious choice by Imperial scholars), as the new High King, the ensuing civil war tore the Empire apart. The war concluded in 1E 420 with the Pact of Chieftains, but the Empire lost its holdings in High Rock and Morrowind, and Skyrim was divided into independent kingdoms. The Nords tried to reconquer Morrowind around 1E 700, but were rebuffed by united Chimer and Dwemer forces, and the Tribunal would protect Morrowind from invasion for thousands of years to come. The failure of the Nord Tongues in Morrowind prompted Jurgen Windcaller to begin a seven-year meditation to understand the failure, leading to the discovery of the Way of the Voice.

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Late in the First Era, an invasion from Akavir cut through Skyrim. Even though Nords don't "meet invasions with pitchers of mead", they were unable to stop the mighty Akaviri Dragonguard, and it took the united armies of Cyrodiil to stop their advance at the Battle of Pale Pass. The Nords were understandably impressed, and for the first time, the whole of Skyrim pledged allegiance to one man: Reman Cyrodiil, one of the first Dragonborn recorded in history and the founder of the Second Empire of Man. The Nords would generally support the Empire, even under the Potentates, for hundreds of years to come. The chaos of the Interregnum brought the Nords an opportunity for glorious battle against their neighbors. Together with the Bretons of High Rock, they once again looked south, to Cyrodiil, for room to expand. Despite some initial success, they did not count on Tiber Septim.

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