Lore Lore is the term used by most fans to refer to the information about the setting of universe . It covers a range of topics , such as the geography , history , and metaphysics , which combine to describe the nature of the setting . Sources of lore . Lore can come from a range of sources , which are discussed below . The Elder Scrolls games . Most of the lore that exists in " The Elder Scrolls " universe comes from the twelve " Elder Scrolls " games that have been published , along with their expansions : Most of the lore in the games is presented in the form of in - game books and character dialogue , which supply information about the setting from a particular perspective . However , the presence of some objects or people in the games may in itself constitute lore for the setting . For example , the mere presence of Jarl Balgruuf the Greater as Jarl of Whiterun in 4E 201 implies that he was Jarl at that time in the lore . Lore versus gameplay . However , there are differences between the setting as presented in in - game texts and dialogue and in the games themselves . This is most obvious in the case of city populations . For example , " Oblivion " has 1 , 839 named NPCs , and yet there is reference to " thousands " of rice workers in the east of the province alone in a text . Differences like this mean that how something is represented in the games may not match their precise nature in lore . The events of the games themselves as carried out by the players also constitute lore in the definition given above . The exact status of some of these events is unclear ; for example , if a given quest is not completed by the player character , is it considered done in the history of the universe ? Due to the imprecise nature of referencing past games this is rarely if ever confirmed . A common opinion that resolves this problem is that each game protagonist completes the games ' main questline , but other quests are completed by someone , who may or may not be the game protagonist . However , in a few instances , such as the Kill the Telvanni Councilors " Morrowind " quest , there is some evidence that the quest was not carried out . Changes made due to gameplay reasons sometimes get an explanation in the lore . The most prominent example of this is the landscape of Cyrodiil . This is described in the Pocket Guide to the Empire , First Edition as mostly being " endless jungle , " and yet the game " Oblivion " portrays it as forested . This is explained in a variety of places as having been changed after Tiber Septim ' s conquest of Tamriel , may have been a scholarly error in the Pocket Guide to the Empire , or happened as a result of a change in ownership of the White - Gold Tower . Similarly , changes to the game engine between Morrowind and Oblivion meant that cities needed to be built in self - contained cells , and therefore levitation spells were not included as they were incompatible with the new cell structure . This was explained in the lore by the introduction of a Levitation Act in Imperial Law , passed in 3E 421 . Elder Scrolls books . There are a variety of printed books that have been made available which contain lore information . These fall into various different categories and are discussed below . Elder Scrolls novels . There have been two novels published set on Tamriel universe , and . These books bring up events that are referenced in the games , and as such are considered part of the overall series lore . Manuals and Pocket Guides . Each game is accompanied by one or more written manuals which largely focus on in - game quest walkthroughs , character builds , statistics , and other data . However , they often contain a significant amount of information related directly to the wider lore of the series . Some of these books include " The Daggerfall Chronicles " , " " , and the " Hero ' s Guides to The Elder Scrolls Online " . Depending on the manual , they may be written from an in - universe or out - of - universe perspective . The physical disk copy of " The Elder Scrolls Adventures : Redguard " came with a booklet entitled " Pocket Guide to the Empire , First Edition " in the case . The collectors edition of " The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion " came with the " Third Edition " of the " Pocket Guide " included in the case . These texts have never been depicted in games ( other than an excerpt of " The Pocket Guide to the Empire , " First Edition " " in " The Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim " ' s load - screens ) , but are written from an in - universe perspective . Printed anthologies . The in - game books are collated in a range of printed texts , such as the " Tales of Tamriel " anthology containing texts from " The Elder Scrolls Online , " or " The Skyrim Libraries " , which does the same for " Skyrim " . However , these merely reproduce existing texts from the games with additional artwork , and do not contribute new information to the lore . Developer interviews and texts . At various points during the development of the series , particularly in the 1990s and early 2000s , game developers would frequently post in - character information on the official Bethesda forums and their own websites . These often elaborated on ideas and concepts that are only tangentially addressed in the games . One particularly prevalent writer of these texts , and the most commonly associated with them , is Michael Kirkbride , who continued writing such texts long after other developers retreated from this form of audience engagement . Some of these texts have been included in " The Elder Scrolls " games after their publication , or referenced by the games without necessarily including all or any of the original text itself . A notable example of this sort of inclusion is in Heimskr ' s sermon , which includes a portion of " From The Many - Headed Talos " . Some " The Elder Scrolls " fans consider these texts to be valid sources of lore about the series , while others do not ( see Canonicity and Elder Scrolls Lore below ) . Nature of lore . The Unreliable Narrator . Lore in " The Elder Scrolls " uses a narrative device called the Unreliable Narrator , whereby the person or thing conveying information may not be telling the whole truth , either because they do not know the truth , have a particular agenda to promote or wish to willfully deceive their audience . Typically , a source of lore within " The Elder Scrolls " will have a definite or implied person or group of people presenting the information , giving it a context and possible set of reasons for it to be true or false . This means that the information presented to players and readers by its nature requires interpretation and a degree of skepticism in order to arrive at an accurate picture of a particular event or thing , or even that a totally accurate retelling is impossible . A particularly prominent example of this is the various accounts surrounding the Battle of Red Mountain . Canonicity and Elder Scrolls lore . A canon is an accepted body of texts that are considered authoritative or true . Due to a combination of both the Unreliable Narrator and the presence of the developer interviews and texts elaborated above , there is some debate among fans about the canonicity of certain lore concepts or particular pieces of developer texts . Some fans consider that only material officially published by Bethesda Studios and its licencees can be considered to be valid lore . Others have a broader view of the canon , including developer interviews and texts — often referred to as " out - of - game texts , " despite the Bethesda - licenced novels and Pocket Guides technically falling under this category as well — as valid lore , while some dislike the notion of a set canon altogether , and uphold subjective canonicity . The nature of canon and its place in the Elder Scrolls universe is still a point of contention for many in the Elder Scrolls lore community . One text that is particularly divisive is C0DA , written by Michael Kirkbride , which implicitly calls for an end to the notion of canon . Bethesda has not to date taken an official position on the canonicity or non - canonicity of any texts . Scope of the lore . Much of the lore is comprised of recorded events that are not experienced in any of the games . Most of the lore in comes from the continent of Tamriel , in which currently all the games have taken place . The lore itself may describe places beyond Tamriel , which include other continents or realms of existence . Realms . There are three realms in the Elder Scrolls universe . These are : Eras . In " The Elder Scrolls " , there are Eras that divide the timeline into sections . These are all reckoned by various events in Tamriel ' s history : Geography of Nirn . Tamriel . The continent of Tamriel is divided into nine provinces : Other regions . There are several other known regions on Nirn . Much of what is known of these places comes from Tamrielic - centric sources . Cosmology & religion . There are a wide variety of religions in Tamriel , mostly tied to a single dominant culture . These are discussed in the Pantheons article . The cosmology itself involves several common concepts . An outline of some of these are :