Pocket Guide to the Empire , First Edition : Skyrim Skyrim , also known as the Old Kingdom or the Fatherland , was the first region of Tamriel settled by humans : the hardy , brave , warlike Nord s , whose descendants still occupy this rugged land , and , although perhaps somewhat reduced from the legendary renown of their forebears of old , the Nords of the pure blood still unquestionably surpass the mixed races in all the manly virtues . Exactly when the Nords first crossed the ice - choked Sea of Ghosts from Atmora , their original homeland , is uncertain . As recorded in the Song of Return , Ysgramor and his family first landed in Tamriel at Hsaarik Head , at the extreme northern tip of Skyrim ' s Broken Cape , fleeing civil war in Atmora ( then rather warmer than at present , as it seems to have supported a substantial population ) . These first settlers named the land " Mereth " , after the Elves that roamed the untamed wilderness which then covered the whole of Tamriel . For a time , relations between Men and Elves were harmonious , and the Nords throve in the new land , summoning more of their kin from the North to build the city of Saarthal , the site of which has recently been located by Imperial archaeologists in the vicinity of modern Winterhold . But the Elves saw that the vital young race would soon surpass their if left unchecked , and fell upon the unsuspecting Nords in the infamous Night of Tears ; Saarthal was burned , and only fought free of the carnage and escaped to Atmora . The Elves , however , had reckoned without the indomitable spirit of the Nords . Gathering his legendary Five Hundred Companions ( whose names are still recited every Thirteenth of Sun ' s Dawn at the Feast of the Dead in Windhelm ) , Ysgramor returned to Tamriel with a vengeance , driving the Elves out of Skyrim and laying the foundations of the first human Empire . It may be that the exploits of the near - mythical Ysgramor conflate the reigns of several early Nord Kings , as the Elves were not finally driven from the present boundaries of Skyrim until the reign of King Harald , the thirteenth of Ysgramor ' s line , at the dawn of recorded history . King Harald is also remembered for being the first King to relinquish all holdings in Atmora ; the Nords of Skyrim were now a separate people , whose faces were turned firmly toward their destiny , the conquest of the vast new land of Tamriel . Indeed , the history of the Nords is the history of humans in Tamriel ; all the human races , with the exception of the Redguards , are descended from Nordic stock , although in some the ancient blood admittedly runs thin . King Vrage the Gifted began the expansion that led to the First Empire of the Nords . Within a span of fifty years , Skyrim ruled all of northern Tamriel , including most of present - day High Rock , a deep stretch of the Nibenay Valley , and the whole of Morrowind . The Conquest of Morrowind was one of the epic clashes of the First Era , when ensued many a desperate contest between Nord and Dunmer in the hills and glades of that dire kingdom , still recalled by the songs of the minstrels in the alehouses of Skyrim . The system of succession in the First Empire is worthy of note , as it proved in the end to be the Empire ' s undoing . By the early years of the First Empire , Skyrim was already divided into Holds , then ruled by a patchwork of clan - heads , kings , and councils ( or moots ) , all of which paid fealty to the King of Skyrim . During the exceptionally long reign of King Harald , who died at 108 years of age and outlived all but three of his sons , a Moot was created , made up of representatives from each Hold , to choose the next King from qualified members of the royal family . Over the years , the Moot became permanent and acquired an increasing amount of power ; by the reign of King Borgas , the last of the Ysgramor dynasty , the Moot had become partisan and ineffective . Upon the of King Borgas by the Wild Hunt ( see " Aldmeri Dominion - Valenwood " ) , the Moot ' s failure to appoint the obvious and capable Jarl Hanse of Winterhold sparked the disastrous Skyrim War of Succession , during which Skyrim lost control of its territories in High Rock , Morrowind , and Cyrodiil , never to regain them . The war was finally concluded in 1E420 with the Pact of Chieftans ; henceforth , the Moot was convened only when a King died without direct heirs , and it has fulfilled this more limited role admirably . It has only been called upon three times in the intervening , and the Skyrim succession has never again been disputed on the field of battle . The land of Skyrim is the most rugged on the continent , containing four of the five highest peaks in Tamriel ( see " Places of Note : Throat of the World " ) . Only in the west do the mountains abate to the canyons and mesas of the Reach , by far the most cosmopolitan of the Holds of Skyrim , Nords of the pure blood holding only the barest majority according to the recent Imperial Census . The rest of Skyrim is a vertical world : the high ridges of the northwest - to - southeast slanting mountain ranges , cleft by deep , narrow valleys where most of the population resides . Along the sides of the river valleys , sturdy Nord farmers raise a wide variety of crops ; wheat flourishes in the relatively temperate river bottoms , while only the snowberry bushes can survive in the high orchards near the treeline . The original Nord settlements were generally established on rocky crags overlooking a river valley ; many of these villages still survive in the more isolated Holds , especially along the Morrowind frontier . In most of Skyrim , however , this defensive posture was deemed unnecessary by the mid - first era , and most cities and towns today lie on the valley floors , in some cases still overlooked by the picturesque ruins of the earlier settlement . Nords are masters of wood and timber construction ; many structures survive in use today that were built by the first settlers over 3 , 000 years ago . A fine example of Nord military engineering can be seen at Old Fort , one of the royal bastions constructed by the First Empire to guard its southern frontier . Towering walls of huge , irregular porphyry blocks fit together without seam or mortar , as if constructed by mythical Elhnofey rather than men . The nine Holds present a varied aspect in people , government , and trade . The Reach could be mistaken for one of the petty kingdoms of High Rock ; it is full of Breton s , Redguard s , Cyrodiils , Elves of all stripes , and even a few misplaced " khajiit " . The northern and Holds - - Winterhold Hold , Eastmarch , The Rift , and the Pale , known collectively as the Old Holds - - remain more isolated , by geography and choice , and the Nords there still hold true to the old ways . Outsiders are a rarity , usually a once - yearly visit from an itinerant peddler . The young men go out for weeks into the high peaks in the dead of winter , hunting the ice wraiths that give them claim to full status as citizens ( a laudable practice that could serve as a model for the more " civilized " regions of the Empire ) . Here , too , the people still revere their hereditary leaders , while the other Holds have long been governed ( after a fashion ) by elected moots . It is fortunate for Skyrim and the Septim Empire that the people of the Old Holds have preserved the traditions of their forefathers . Skyrim has long been dormant , slumbering through the while upstart conquerors bestrode the Arena of Tamriel . But now , once again holds the world ' s destiny in his hands . If Skyrim is to awake , its rebirth will be led by these true Nords who remain its best hope for the future . [ TRAVELER : I found many of these mountain villages almost empty of young men , who have been seduced into joining Septim ' s army by promises of wealth and glory ; the village elders see little hope of their sons ever returning . ] Places of Note . Haafingar ( Solitude ) . The home of the famous Bards ' College , Haafingar is also one of Skyrim ' s chief ports , and ships from up and down the coast can be found at her crowded quays , loading timber and salted cod for the markets of Wayrest , West Anvil , and Senchal . Founded during Skyrim ' s long Alessian flirtation , the Bards ' College continues to flaunt a heretical streak , and its students are famous carousers , fittingly enough for their chosen trade . Students yearly invade the marketplace for week of revelry , the climax of which is the burning of " King Olaf " in effigy , possibly a now - forgotten contender in the War of Succession . Graduates have no trouble finding employment in noble households across Tamriel , including the restored Imperial Court in Cyrodiil , but many still choose to follow in the wandering footsteps of illustrious alumni such as Callisos and Morachellis . Windhelm . Once the capital of the First Empire , the palace of the Ysgramor dynasty still dominates the center of the Old City . Windhelm was sacked during the War of Succession , and again by the Akaviri army of Ada ' Soon Dir - Kamal ; the Palace of the Kings is one of the few First Empire buildings that remains . Today , Windhelm remains the only sizable city in the otherwise determinedly rural Hold of Eastmarch , and serves as a base for Imperial troops guarding the Dunmeth Pass into Morrowind . Throat of the World . This is the highest mountain in Skyrim , and the highest in Tamriel aside from Vvardenfell in Morrowind . The Nords believe men were formed on this mountain when the sky breathed onto the land . Hence the Song of Return refers not only to Ysgramor ' s return to Tamriel after the destruction of Saarthal , but to the Nords ' return to what they believe was their original homeland . Pilgrims travel from across Skyrim to climb the Seven Thousand Steps to High Hrothgar , where the most ancient and Annotations . Annotations by YR :