The Elder Scrolls
The history of Tamriel: its eras, provinces, Empires, Daedric Princes and the stories of Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and ESO.
6 regions7 characters4 reading paths4 turning points
What is Tamriel?
The Elder Scrolls is one long mythic history of Tamriel, told through different eras and provinces. Every game lets a prisoner change history, but the recurring forces are the same: the Empire, the Divines, the Daedra, dragons and the people living between them.
This guide follows the great eras and the game settings without forcing every quest outcome into one fixed answer. Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls Online are connected by the world and its history, while each has its own protagonist and crisis.
The next mainline Elder Scrolls game remains officially in pre-production, so it is not treated as existing lore.
The Elder Scrolls is a history of overlapping accounts. Prophecy, religion, imperial record and local memory repeatedly disagree, so this universe is best read through the consequences of a claim rather than as one settled chronology handed down by a neutral narrator.
Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim form a useful arc from contested divinity, through imperial rupture, to a province facing both old myth and current civil conflict. Each hero matters because their choices enter a world whose history remains disputed after they leave it.
Quick paths
Short routes through the regions, in the order that makes the most sense.
- The history of Tamrielabout 18 min
The direct route through Empires, Daedra, the Septim crisis and dragons.
- Daedric Princes and Oblivionabout 12 min
Follow the Daedric influence from Morrowind to the Oblivion Crisis.
- Skyrim explainedabout 11 min
The Dragonborn, civil war, Alduin and the future of the north.
- ESO and the Second Eraabout 10 min
The earlier Tamrielic age where alliances and Daedric plots shape the continent.
Pick a region
Each page tells that place's story in four steps and says where to go next.
- ESO and ancient TamrielThe First and Second EraEmpires, provinces and alliances in the eras that make ESO's world possible.6 steps
- The Elder Scrolls IIIMorrowindThe Nerevarine's story and the most distinctive cultural lens on Tamriel.6 steps
- The Elder Scrolls IVCyrodiilThe Oblivion Crisis and the fall of the Septim dynasty.6 steps
- Daedric realmsOblivionThe essential context for the Oblivion Crisis and recurring Daedric influence.6 steps
- The Elder Scrolls VSkyrimThe Dragonborn's story, the return of Alduin and the Fourth Era's central northern crisis.6 steps
- ESO / later TamrielSummerset and ElsweyrTwo major provinces whose cultures expand ESO's map of the continent.6 steps
Who is who
Every character has a short profile and links to the people they are tied to, so you can follow one story into the next.
Every game in this guide
Main games, narrative side games, mobile and archived titles, plus announced chapters. Remasters appear only when they have a distinct release status.
- The Elder Scrolls: Arena1994Third EraA prisoner escapes the Imperial dungeons and crosses Tamriel to restore Emperor Uriel Septim VII after the battlemage Jagar Tharn usurps his identity.
- The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall1996Third EraAn agent of the Emperor enters the Iliac Bay to investigate a dead king and a missing letter, then becomes central to a struggle over the Numidium.
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind2002Third EraAn imperial prisoner arrives on Vvardenfell and may fulfill the Nerevarine prophecy while Dagoth Ur spreads the Blight from Red Mountain.
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion2006End of the Third EraThe assassination of Uriel Septim VII leaves the empire without an acknowledged heir as Mehrunes Dagon opens gates across Cyrodiil.
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim2011Fourth EraA prisoner escapes Helgen when Alduin returns, then discovers the ability to absorb dragon souls and use the Thu'um.