Atmora Atmora , also known as Altmora or Elder Wood in Ehlnofex , is a frozen continent located far to the north of Tamriel , across the Sea of Ghosts . It was home to a race of men known as Atmoran s around the Merethic Era . Climate . Expeditions to Atmora in the Third Era describe a place of permanent winter , with little life and no sign of human habitation . Reports describing the climate before the freezing vary . The " Songs of the Return " series of books makes several mentions of " distant green summers " and " chilling green shores . " Other reports assert it was never a temperate place , and as such the early settlers were hunters with no knowledge of agriculture . Origins of men . Legend has it that the first pre - literate humans came to Tamriel from the continent of Atmora in the late Merethic Era . It was not a single invasion but a migration spanning over hundreds of years , giving birth to the Nord s , Imperial s and Breton s . The last of the invaders was the legendary Ysgramor and his Five Hundred Companions . Migration . Pre - Return events . Ysgramor gathered those who wished to leave Atmora due to the violent civil war . They sailed south and eventually the fleet landed at Hsaarik Head at the extreme northern tip of Skyrim ' s Broken Cape . It was here they built there the legendary city of Saarthal . Upon arrival in Tamriel , the Atmorans met and befriended the local Snow Elves . The Nords called the land " Mereth , " in recognition of the vast number of Mer that lived there . The elves quickly took notice of the rate at which Man ' s population was growing , and soon realized that these men were the first great threat to Elvish civilization on Tamriel . The Snow Elves led raids throughout the settlements of men that had come to Tamriel . Most of the Atmorans were hunted down and the city of Saarthal was burned to the ground . These events became known as the " Night of Tears . " Ysgramor and his two sons , Yngol and Ylgar , survived and fled back to Atmora . Return . When Ysgramor and his sons returned to their homeland they discovered Atmora had developed into a peaceful land . They told stories of elven treachery and murders in Saarthal . This inspired men of Atmora to raise an army and avenge the fallen , claiming Mereth for themselves . Ysgramor gathered an army known as the Five Hundred Companions and set sail from the southernmost city of Jylkurfyk to invade Tamriel , this became known as the Day of Final Passage . When they arrived , they retook Saarthal and hunted Snow Elves and other Mer alike , and made possible the rise of men , eventually establishing the First Empire . These series of events gained the name of " The Return " and have since led to a strong hatred and prejudice between the races of Men and Mer . Fate . Tiber Septim was the last purported immigrant from Atmora , who was said to have left the continent in his youth during the Second Era . However , given the last recorded wave of migration took place in 1E 68 , the veracity of this is questionable . It is unknown what exactly caused the climate to deteriorate so drastically . The Atmorans that did not manage to flee doubtlessly succumbed to the ever - worsening climate many centuries ago . According to the " 36 Lessons of Vivec , Sermon 17 " , Vivec and Nerevar traveled to Atmora but found only frozen bearded kings .