Night of Tears ( Book ) Summary . This tome , written by Dranor Seleth , details the complete history of the Nede s and how they came to Skyrim from Atmora , as well as how they constructed and settled the city of Saarthal . After their arrival , the Nedes began a great alliance with the Snow Elves , and both races believed that a lasting peace between them would endure . At some point the Snow Elves began to fear the growing population of the Nedes , and the possibility that they might expand beyond Saarthal and settle all of Skyrim . So the Snow Elves broke their alliance with the Nedes by sending a legion of their troops to Saarthal in which they brutally slaughtered every last man , woman and child in the city . The remaining Nedes who survived the attack returned to Atmora to tell of the night ' s events . Thus they gathered the Five Hundred Companions to return to Skyrim on the day which would later be known as the Day of Final Passage . When they landed in Skyrim they fought a huge battle against the Snow Elves , eventually winning . Over time , the Nedes would develop into the Nords , and would eventually settle all of Skyrim . The events which involve the entire Nede race traveling from Atmora to Skyrim would later be referred to as The Return . The event that occurred in Saarthal would later be known as the Night of Tears , and would stay with the Nords as a part of their history and culture , as well as their hatred of the Snow Elves and essentially all Elven - kind . Content . Saarthal holds a prominent place in Skyrim history , even if most do not remember it by name . It is of course the site of one of the first major Nord settlements , one of the first cities of men in Skyrim , and the earliest known capital of their civilization . It was also the site of terrible bloodshed , when the elves attempted to drive the Nords out of Skyrim , to succeed only in incurring their wrath in the form of Ysgramor and his fabled Five Hundred Companions , who swept the elves from Skyrim and firmly established it as the home of the Nords . All this is known , but little else . What happened on that Night of Tears , when Saarthal was razed to the ground ? What provoked the elves to such a deliberate , vicious attack , and what prompted such a severe response from the Nords ? Vingalmo ' s Treatise on the Altmer Antecedent suggests that the elves of the Merethic Era , along with their counterparts the early Dwemer , possessed a degree of sophistication unparalleled in Tamriel . They displayed power beyond what could be expected of the time . While a distinct explanation is not given for this , I believe that this work , compared with the early writings of Heseph Chirirnis , suggest that something greater was at work on that night in Saarthal . The true motives behind the Night of Tears have been obscured to us by the passage of time , but I believe this was not a simple war of territory , or of control of Skyrim . I believe that what happened was a significant event based around something very particular . The Nords found something when they built their city , buried deep in the ground . They attempted to keep it buried , but the elves learned of it and coveted it for themselves . Thus they assaulted Saarthal , their goal not to drive the Nords out but to secure this power for themselves . I believe Ysgramor knew something of what the elves would find under Saarthal , and rallied together his people to keep the elves from gaining it . When Nords once again controlled Skyrim , this power was buried deep below the earth and sealed away . Time has kept this knowledge from us , but it is my hope that Time will also reveal the truth of these words . Every effort will be made to relocate Saarthal , and find that which has been lost to us .