For thousands of years, Tamriel was sparsely populated. In the northern half, washed by the Azurian Sea and the Sea of Ghosts, lived mainly scattered human tribes - the so-called Nedic peoples. They lived in peace with the Elven races migrating from the south until the Elves began to claim the territories for themselves. The Nedic tribes were displaced or destroyed, so that about 7,000 years ago, the northern regions of Tamriel were also ruled by Elves

North of Tamriel lies the continent of Atmora. In this cold world lived humans - let us call them Nords - who, due to the harshness of the environment, became just as primal, hardened, and tough as their homeland. Following a civil war, the first Nords crossed the frozen Sea of Ghosts under the leadership of Ysgramor and settled on the northern coast of Tamriel. In the new land, they encountered nomadic Elves and therefore named the country "Mereth". The Norsemen lived peacefully alongside the Elves and slowly spread throughout the territory. More and more emigrants arrived from Atmora, and new settlements emerged. While the Elves led a rather wild life in the forests, the Nords cultivated the land and founded their legendary city of Saarthal.

The continuous expansion of the agile and dynamic Nords was slowly perceived as a threat by the Elves. Perhaps it was their longevity that hindered a more rapid cultural development. They recognized the danger that the vital Nords could displace them and decided to act. In the famous "Night of Tears", they attacked the Nords everywhere and dealt them a crushing defeat. Saarthal was completely burned to the ground, and according to legend, only Ysgramor and two of his sons survived, fleeing back to Atmora.

However, the Elves underestimated the heroism and fighting spirit of the Nords - Ysgramor returned with the Five Hundred Companions and took terrible revenge. Mercilessly, he slaughtered every Elf he encountered, and his descendants continued to wage a fierce war against the Elves in the centuries that followed. Under King Harald, they were considered completely driven out of Skyrim. Thus, the first human kingdom emerged, and the millennia-long dominance of the Elves in northern Tamriel ended nearly 5,000 years ago.

The scholars and bards of King Harald were the first to record historical dates - an invaluable deed from today's perspective. The entire ancient history of the Merethic Era can only be reconstructed because of this.

The Nords expanded rapidly, conquering the land in the south as far as the Nibenay Valley. In the west, they advanced into High Rock, and had an old Breton not begged for mercy in broken Old Nord, the Nords would have slaughtered the Bretons as Elves as well. After fierce fighting, the Nords also conquered the land of the Chimer in the east (Dwemereth, today Morrowind). Thus, the First Empire of the Nords was born.

For centuries, the realm of the Norsemen was ruled by successors of the Ysgramor dynasty. However, with the death of King Harald, the central power position slowly waned, and the land split into domains ruled by viceroys, elders, or tribal chiefs. Following the death of the last king from the Ysgramor line, a successor could not be agreed upon, and a catastrophic War of Succession erupted, during which large parts of the empire in the west and south were lost forever. In the first centuries of the First Era, the borders of Skyrim as they are known today were thus formed.

This was due in no small part to getting bogged down in minor conflicts. The Nordic Empire repeatedly supported human armies operating against Elves. Examples include the Alessian Army against the Ayleids or the Cyrodiilic Army against the Direnni. Later, however, during the reign of King Hoag Merkiller, the Alessian Army was destroyed at the Glenumbra Moors - by the Nords and the Direnni together. Weakened and poorly coordinated, the Nords were also driven out of the eastern territories by the unified Dwemer and Chimer, where Resdayn (the later Morrowind) was established.

Around 1E 500, King Wulfharth of Atmora ruled Skyrim and abolished the Pantheon of the Eight Divines, which had been introduced by Alessia for all humans. The people returned to their ancient traditions, worshipping Alduin, Orkey, Tsun, Kyne, Shor, and Ysmir, among others.

In the "Year of Winter in Summer" (around 1E 660), the Nords defeated Malacath in the Battle of Dragonborn War. The traditional name of that year points to the eruption of the volcano on Vvardenfell, and thus to the time when Kagrenac's artifacts were used, the Dwemer disappeared, Nerevar died, and the Dark Elves emerged.

The subsequent history of Skyrim is closely intertwined with that of the Empire. Following the Thrassian Plague (1E 2260), which wiped out over half of Tamriel's population, and after the War of Righteousness and the downfall of the Alessian Order (1E 2331), it was Reman Cyrodiil who skillfully united armies in the east and west. He successfully fought against the Akaviri (1E 2703), primarily in Skyrim. The weakened country thus became part of the Second Empire of Man. For centuries, the Empire was ruled first by the Reman Emperors, then by the Tsaesci Potentates. After the assassination of the last one in 2E 430, the Empire collapsed politically, resulting in civil wars and mismanagement - for the next 400 years ★This is the era in which
The Elder Scrolls Online takes place..

King Cuhlecain envisioned restoring the former glory of the Cyrodiilic Empire and appointed the educated Nord Hjalti Early-Beard as General of his legions. General Talos was a master of the Thu'um and led the armies from one victory to another. Within a short time, half of the former Cyrodiilic Empire was reunified. Following the magnificent victory at Sancre Tor (2E 852) and the assassination of Cuhlecain, Talos crowned himself Emperor of the Third Empire as Tiber Septim.

With this, the Second Era came to an end. The Empire was ruled by the Septim dynasty, and so on (nothing more of major significance regarding Skyrim).

I am curious to see if Bethesda remembered the ruins of Saarthal near Winterhold in the game 😟