Where does the Elder Scrolls Lore come from?

Arandear

Hey all, so as the Title says I have been wondering where the ES Lore is made, I don't believe there are books? But surly there is to much Lore to all be coughed up in the different ES Games on little notes and so fourth (Despite how awesome and big all the games are).

So, where does the ES Lore and Universe Originally come from? And who came up with it?

Thanks in advance, should be a good discussion!

DaniAngione

The games are the base for the lore. They've evolved through the games, with content being written inside the game in the form of quest stories and the books.

The little things you can find outside the games actually came after the games as promotional/transmedia stuff.

The original game, Elder Scrolls Arena, was meant to be a "Gladiator" game where you would walk around the world training a team of gladiators and had to win on every major city of the world. During development, it evolved into a full fledged narrative RPG. There is where the lore began to take form. Things like the realms, its capitals and the races were defined.

With Daggerfall, a lot of lore was added, like more information on Oblivion and it's realms, from there, everything else came.

Morrowind made history with the amazing amount of lore and depth. After that, the lore started to take form on its own, with a lot more being added with every title.

UrQuan

Surprisingly, yeah, it pretty much does all come directly from the games. There are a TON of books and notes in all of them. Plus the quests and storylines themselves, of course.

Panda244

The games. Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, there's books on the games, there's The Imperial Library. A lot of the lore is built up from the first few games and added onto, there's hundreds of books that you can read in the games that have lore in them, the gaps that we don't really know about are speculated from facts and what not, I mean the lore didn't really come from one thing. It came from everywhere. Here's a few sites in case you wanna brush up, the lore is larger than some novels, so bring food.

• Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages
• The Elder Scrolls Wiki
• The Imperial Library

Arandear

Awesome good to know, thanks for the replies guys!

WhiskyBob

There is a channel on youtube with guy doing awesome lore videos. ShoddyCast

Mikoto

Remember because the lore comes from within books and word of mouth then it's like real life history. It's written from point of view and you will find inconsistencies so don't expect the 100% definitive word about topics. In my opinion this is what makes tes lore special.

Menelaos

Mikoto wrote: »

Remember because the lore comes from within books and word of mouth then it's like real life history. It's written from point of view and you will find inconsistencies so don't expect the 100% definitive word about topics. In my opinion this is what makes tes lore special.

That is also what makes this game so unique. Especially when dealing with events in the past that had a major impact on the future you just don't have an out-of-game sourcebook giving you a write-up of the "true" version of it all. The vanishing of the Dwemer and the rise of the Tribunal for example has like four or five different interpretations, all based on cultural beliefs and of course prejudice towards the other cultures.

You not only need to bring food, when immersing yourself into the lore. Best bring a sleeping bag as well... :-)

Rosveen

Arandear wrote: »

I don't believe there are books?

There are, actually. The Infernal City and Lord of Souls by Greg Keyes, as well as booklets included with certain versions of Redguard and Oblivion known as the First and Third Pocket Guide to the Empire, and ESO's own The Emperor's Guide to Tamriel.

But like posters above said, most of the lore comes from in-game books and dialogues. Some of them are quite extensive and elaborate, for example Vivec's Sermons (they look cryptic at first glance, but trust me, there's a wealth of knowledge hidden in them). Stuff like the 2920 series, A Dance in Fire and The Argonian Account, The Real Barenziah, The Five Songs of King Wulfharth, Remanada and The Song of Pelinal... Not only are they lore-heavy, but they're simply good literature. And that's why this:

Menelaos wrote: »

You not only need to bring food, when immersing yourself into the lore. Best bring a sleeping bag as well... :-)

...is 100% true.

Merlin13KAGL

Rosveen wrote: »

Arandear wrote: »

I don't believe there are books?

There are, actually. The Infernal City and Lord of Souls by Greg Keyes, as well as booklets included with certain versions of Redguard and Oblivion known as the First and Third Pocket Guide to the Empire, and ESO's own The Emperor's Guide to Tamriel.

But like posters above said, most of the lore comes from in-game books and dialogues. Some of them are quite extensive and elaborate, for example Vivec's Sermons (they look cryptic at first glance, but trust me, there's a wealth of knowledge hidden in them). Stuff like the 2920 series, A Dance in Fire and The Argonian Account, The Real Barenziah, The Five Songs of King Wulfharth, Remanada and The Song of Pelinal... Not only are they lore-heavy, but they're simply good literature. And that's why this:

Menelaos wrote: »

You not only need to bring food, when immersing yourself into the lore. Best bring a sleeping bag as well... :-)

...is 100% true.

I am still amazed, to this day, that all of this once originated in someone's head. Tolken and many others would be proud.

For the record, both books are awesome and very well written. They are immersive, and draw you in, just as the games did. You will get the most benefit out of them if you have played the standalones, but they are throroughly enjoyable even if you have not.

I deem them worthy enough that I am surprised no DLC has been made based on the books, even though the books are based on the games.

Rosveen

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

Rosveen wrote: »

Arandear wrote: »

I don't believe there are books?

There are, actually. The Infernal City and Lord of Souls by Greg Keyes, as well as booklets included with certain versions of Redguard and Oblivion known as the First and Third Pocket Guide to the Empire, and ESO's own The Emperor's Guide to Tamriel.

But like posters above said, most of the lore comes from in-game books and dialogues. Some of them are quite extensive and elaborate, for example Vivec's Sermons (they look cryptic at first glance, but trust me, there's a wealth of knowledge hidden in them). Stuff like the 2920 series, A Dance in Fire and The Argonian Account, The Real Barenziah, The Five Songs of King Wulfharth, Remanada and The Song of Pelinal... Not only are they lore-heavy, but they're simply good literature. And that's why this:

Menelaos wrote: »

You not only need to bring food, when immersing yourself into the lore. Best bring a sleeping bag as well... :-)

...is 100% true.

I deem them worthy enough that I am surprised no DLC has been made based on the books, even though the books are based on the games.

A DLC to which game? The timeline doesn't fit. For what it's worth, the events of the books are heavily referenced in Skyrim.

bertenburnyb16_ESO

Tamriel

your welcome

SantieClaws

M'aiq

AngryNord

There are some claims that the world of Tamriel originated in tabletop RPG sessions between Todd Howard and friends. Don't know how true they are, though.

UrQuan

Menelaos wrote: »

Mikoto wrote: »

Remember because the lore comes from within books and word of mouth then it's like real life history. It's written from point of view and you will find inconsistencies so don't expect the 100% definitive word about topics. In my opinion this is what makes tes lore special.

That is also what makes this game so unique. Especially when dealing with events in the past that had a major impact on the future you just don't have an out-of-game sourcebook giving you a write-up of the "true" version of it all. The vanishing of the Dwemer and the rise of the Tribunal for example has like four or five different interpretations, all based on cultural beliefs and of course prejudice towards the other cultures.

And sometimes that are several different versions of events that are all simultaneously contradictory and true... Dragon Break!

Danikat

Menelaos wrote: »

Mikoto wrote: »

Remember because the lore comes from within books and word of mouth then it's like real life history. It's written from point of view and you will find inconsistencies so don't expect the 100% definitive word about topics. In my opinion this is what makes tes lore special.

That is also what makes this game so unique. Especially when dealing with events in the past that had a major impact on the future you just don't have an out-of-game sourcebook giving you a write-up of the "true" version of it all. The vanishing of the Dwemer and the rise of the Tribunal for example has like four or five different interpretations, all based on cultural beliefs and of course prejudice towards the other cultures.

It's also very useful for an on-going series because leaving gaps and uncertainty over the "real" version of events gives them a lot of room to add and change things as needed to suit the stories they want to tell.

Like having a roughly 400 year period when Tamriel was in a pretty much constant state of war, no one could keep track of who was/claimed to be the Emperor and very few records survived in which to set a new game with large scale PvP where players get to be the Emperor.

Merlin13KAGL

Rosveen wrote: »

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

Rosveen wrote: »

Arandear wrote: »

I don't believe there are books?

There are, actually. The Infernal City and Lord of Souls by Greg Keyes, as well as booklets included with certain versions of Redguard and Oblivion known as the First and Third Pocket Guide to the Empire, and ESO's own The Emperor's Guide to Tamriel.

But like posters above said, most of the lore comes from in-game books and dialogues. Some of them are quite extensive and elaborate, for example Vivec's Sermons (they look cryptic at first glance, but trust me, there's a wealth of knowledge hidden in them). Stuff like the 2920 series, A Dance in Fire and The Argonian Account, The Real Barenziah, The Five Songs of King Wulfharth, Remanada and The Song of Pelinal... Not only are they lore-heavy, but they're simply good literature. And that's why this:

Menelaos wrote: »

You not only need to bring food, when immersing yourself into the lore. Best bring a sleeping bag as well... :-)

...is 100% true.

I deem them worthy enough that I am surprised no DLC has been made based on the books, even though the books are based on the games.

A DLC to which game? The timeline doesn't fit. For what it's worth, the events of the books are heavily referenced in Skyrim.

@Rosveen, I suspect with some expansion and adjustment, there is enough base concept there to warrant a complete game out of it, much the same way Oblivion introduced the gates and later the Shivering Isles.

There would have to be adjustments, of course, but I found it intriguing that the author came up with a different twist that TES had not.

I enjoyed the fluidity of many of the ideas, such as how alchemy is not as hard-and-fast in combinations as it usually was prior, just to name one.

JD2013

I love the lore of Tamriel and the ES series.

Sometimes I can just hop on over to the Imperial Library website and read and read.

It is definitely one of the most fleshed out game worlds in the whole history of gaming, I would say. So many intricacies. So many books!

TheBull

Shoddycast, you'll love it OP.

Season 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-chDClmdos&list=PL7pGJQV-jlzCPBUy9uAXQUXZ4UBaDLKS5

Season 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZjneISs-vA&list=PL7pGJQV-jlzB-qocScD0wPA5twwi1IM5p


edit- Here's a name for you OP. http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Michael_Kirkbride

AngryNord

I'd far recommend www.uesp.net and www.imperial-Library.info for those who want to learn TES lore.

Panda244

AngryNord wrote: »

I'd far recommend www.uesp.net and www.imperial-Library.info for those who want to learn TES lore.

This. UESP first though, Imperial Library is bleh.

Lionxoft

Panda244 wrote: »

AngryNord wrote: »

I'd far recommend www.uesp.net and www.imperial-Library.info for those who want to learn TES lore.

This. UESP first though, Imperial Library is bleh.

I know there are some editorial types of content on Imperial Library but I don't think a collection of nearly every lorebook in the game is "Bleh".

Lionxoft

wenxue2222b16_ESO wrote: »

M'aiq

I died a little reading this hahahhaha!

Lionxoft

Arandear wrote: »

Hey all, so as the Title says I have been wondering where the ES Lore is made, I don't believe there are books? But surly there is to much Lore to all be coughed up in the different ES Games on little notes and so fourth (Despite how awesome and big all the games are).

So, where does the ES Lore and Universe Originally come from? And who came up with it?

Thanks in advance, should be a good discussion!

Zenimax Online Studios is not the creator of the lore and to be honest shouldn't even be considered in the conversation. Bethesda, is and always will be the creator of Tamriel and it's inhabitants. ZOS is merely borrowing the lore and doing a pretty nasty job at attempting to tie everything together to make it work for an MMO.

Keepercraft

http://youtu.be/WdqI38MrMP8
Shoddycast Elder Scrolls Hidden History

Lionxoft

Keepercraft wrote: »

http://youtu.be/WdqI38MrMP8
Shoddycast Elder Scrolls Hidden History

Crazy how that video gets posted today and this topic started just yesterday. Would ya look at that!

Rosveen

Lionxoft wrote: »

Arandear wrote: »

Hey all, so as the Title says I have been wondering where the ES Lore is made, I don't believe there are books? But surly there is to much Lore to all be coughed up in the different ES Games on little notes and so fourth (Despite how awesome and big all the games are).

So, where does the ES Lore and Universe Originally come from? And who came up with it?

Thanks in advance, should be a good discussion!

Zenimax Online Studios is not the creator of the lore and to be honest shouldn't even be considered in the conversation. Bethesda, is and always will be the creator of Tamriel and it's inhabitants. ZOS is merely borrowing the lore and doing a pretty nasty job at attempting to tie everything together to make it work for an MMO.

ZOS created a ton of new lore in ESO. I don't know how much of it was in collaboration with Bethesda, but either way Zenimax's contribution shouldn't be ignored. This world isn't a creation of any one person, it's a en ever-growing joint effort of many brilliant minds over many years.

You keep posting Shoddycast videos, I guess it's worth pointing out a few other sources.
Elder Lore podcast
The Selectives Lorecast (this one probably won't be very interesting for a newcomer)
Lady N's 'How to become a lore buff' guide
New Whirling School with Rotten Deadite's thoughts on Vivec's Sermons, pretty informative for someone who can't figure out what they're all about.

SantieClaws

A point worth noting about every myth that endures.

It all begins with one person, one story, one idea - like LOTR.

When that story and world begins to take on a life of its own, when other people write about it and talk about it, when it is collectively built and maintained and added to - that is the difference between a story and a myth.

I think as far as Tamriel is concerned we are moving into the myth phase now. It doesn't belong just to Bethsoft or ZOS anymore. It belongs to every creator of fan art, of costumes, of videos, of fan fiction. It is part of every guild gathering, festival and RPG event.

For those who have been around these games a long time it is a part of us now.

It is actually the greatest sign of the success of a story for it to make this transition but it also often disliked by the original authors - like their child growing up and away from them in ways they can no longer control.

Rosveen

I think we've been in the myth phase for quite some time now.

Lionxoft

Rosveen wrote: »

Lionxoft wrote: »

Arandear wrote: »

Hey all, so as the Title says I have been wondering where the ES Lore is made, I don't believe there are books? But surly there is to much Lore to all be coughed up in the different ES Games on little notes and so fourth (Despite how awesome and big all the games are).

So, where does the ES Lore and Universe Originally come from? And who came up with it?

Thanks in advance, should be a good discussion!

Zenimax Online Studios is not the creator of the lore and to be honest shouldn't even be considered in the conversation. Bethesda, is and always will be the creator of Tamriel and it's inhabitants. ZOS is merely borrowing the lore and doing a pretty nasty job at attempting to tie everything together to make it work for an MMO.

You keep posting Shoddycast videos, I guess it's worth pointing out a few other sources.

I didn't post any ShoddyCast videos.

kenpachi480

wow so many good answers and tips and help. dont have to add anything myself anymore just check all the links to see for info unknown to me yet