The Annotated Anuad Content . The first ones were brothers : Anu and Padomay . They came into the Void , and Time began . As Anu and Padomay wandered the Void , the interplay of Light and Darkness created Nir . Both Anu and Padomay were amazed and delighted with her appearance , but she loved Anu , and Padomay retreated from them in bitterness . Nir became pregnant , but before she gave birth , Padomay returned , professing his love for Nir . She told him that she loved only Anu , and Padomay beat her in rage . Anu returned , fought Padomay , and cast him outside Time . Nir gave birth to Creation , but died from her injuries soon after . Anu , grieving , hid himself in the sun and slept . Meanwhile , life sprang up on the twelve worlds of creation and flourished . After many ages , Padomay was able to return to Time . He saw Creation and hated it . He swung his sword , shattering the twelve worlds in their alignment . Anu awoke , and fought Padomay again . The long and furious battle ended with Anu the victor . He cast aside the body of his brother , who he believed was dead , and attempted to save Creation by forming the remnants of the 12 worlds into one - - Nirn , the world of Tamriel . As he was doing so , Padomay struck him through the chest with one last blow . Anu grappled with his brother and pulled them both outside of Time forever . The blood of Padomay became the Daedra . The blood of Anu became the stars . The mingled blood of both became the Aedra ( hence their capacity for good and evil , and their greater affinity for earthly affairs than the Daedra , who have no connection to Creation ) . On the world of Nirn , all was chaos . The only survivors of the twelve worlds of Creation were the Ehlnofey and the Hist . The Ehlnofey are the ancestors of Mer and Men . The Hist are the trees of Argonia . Nirn originally was all land , with interspersed seas , but no oceans . A large fragment of the Ehlnofey world landed on Nirn relatively intact , and the Ehlnofey living there were the ancestors of the Mer . These Ehlnofey fortified their borders from the chaos outside , hid their pocket of calm , and attempted to live on as before . Other Ehlnofey arrived on Nirn scattered amid the confused jumble of the shattered worlds , wandering and finding each other over the years . Eventually , the wandering Ehlnofey found the hidden land of Old Ehlnofey , and were amazed and joyful to find their kin living amid the splendor of ages past . The wandering Ehlnofey expected to be welcomed into the peaceful realm , but the Old Ehlnofey looked on them as degenerates , fallen from their former glory . For whatever reason , war broke out , and raged across the whole of Nirn . The Old Ehlnofey retained their ancient power and knowledge , but the Wanderers were more numerous , and toughened by their long struggle to survive on Nirn . This war reshaped the face of Nirn , sinking much of the land beneath new oceans , and leaving the lands as we know them ( Tamriel , Akavir , Atmora , and Yokuda ) . The Old Ehlnofey realm , although ruined , became Tamriel . The remnants of the Wanderers were left divided on the other 3 continents . Over many years , the Ehlnofey of Tamriel became the Mer ( Elves ) : On the other continents , the Wandering Ehlnofey became the Men : the Nord s of Atmora , the Redguard s of Yokuda , and the Tsaesci of Akavir . The Hist were bystanders in the Ehlnofey war , but most of their realm was destroyed as the war passed over it . A small corner of it survived to become Black Marsh in Tamriel , but most of their realm was sunk beneath the sea . Eventually , Men returned to Tamriel . The Nords were the first , colonizing the northern coast of Tamriel before recorded history , led by the legendary Ysgramor . The thirteenth of his line , King Harald , was the first to appear in written history . And so the Mythic Era ended .