Frontier , Conquest Content . Frontier , Conquest and Accommodation : A Social History of Cyrodiil University of Gwylim Press 3E 344 Historians often portray the human settlements of Tamriel as a straightforward process of military expansion and of governmental progression of the Nord s of Skyrim . In fact , human settlers occupied nearly every corner of Tamriel before Skyrim was even founded . These so - called " Nedic peoples " include the proto - Cyrodilians , the ancestors of the Breton s , the aboriginals of Hammerfell , and perhaps a now - vanished Human population of Morrowind . Strictly speaking , the Nords are simply another of these Nedic peoples , the only one that failed to find a method of peaceful accommodation with the Elves who already occupied Tamriel . Ysgramor was certainly not the first human settler in Tamriel . In fact , in " fleeing civil war in Atmora , " as the Song of Return states , Ysgramor was following a long tradition of migration from Atmora ; Tamriel had served as a " safety valve " for Atmora for centuries before Ysgramor ' s arrival . Malcontents , dissidents , rebels , landless younger sons , all made the difficult crossing from Atmora to the " New World " of Tamriel . New archeological excavations date the earliest human settlements in Hammerfell , High Rock , and Cyrodiil at ME800 - 1000 , centuries earlier than Ysgramor , even assuming that the twelve Nord " kings " prior to Harald were actual historical figures . The Nedic peoples were a minority in a land of Elves , and had no choice but to live peacefully with the Elder Race . In High Rock , Hammerfell , Cyrodiil , and possibly Morrowind , they did just that , and the Nedic peoples flourished and expanded over the last centuries of the Merethic Era . Only in Skyrim did this accommodation break down , an event recorded in the Song of Return . Perhaps , being close to reinforcements from Atmora , the proto - Nords did not feel it necessary to submit to the authority of the Skyrim Elves . Indeed , the early Nord chronicles note that under King Harald , the first historical Nord ruler ( 1E113 - 1E 221 ) , " the Atmoran mercenaries returned to their homeland ” following the consolidation of Skyrim as a centralized kingdom . Whatever the case , the pattern was set — in Skyrim , expansion would proceed militarily , with human settlement following the frontier of conquest , and the line between Human territory and Elven territory was relatively clear . But beyond this " zone of conflict , " the other Nedic peoples continued to merge with their Elven neighbors . When the Nord armies of the First Empire finally entered High Rock and Cyrodiil , they found Bretons and proto - Cyrodiils already living there among the Elves . Indeed , the Nords found it difficult to distinguish between Elf and Breton , the two races had already intermingled to such a degree . The arrival of the Nord armies upset the balance of power between the Nedic peoples and the Elves . Although the Nords ' expansion into High Rock and Cyrodiil was relatively brief ( less than two centuries ) , the result was decisive ; from then on , power in those regions shifted from the Elves to the Humans .