West Skyrim West Skyrim , Western Skyrim , or the West Kingdom is the western half of the province of Skyrim and is the parallel to the Old Holds in the East . While the Old Holds are more conservative and keep to the old ways , Western Skyrim is more progressive and has close ties to the Empire of Cyrodiil . Description . Geography . West Skyrim consists of the western holds of Skyrim , which include Falkreath , Haafingar , Hjaalmarch , The Reach , and Whiterun . The capital of the nation is the city of Solitude , located on a natural arch in the mountains of Haafingar . West Skyrim takes up a larger portion than the Old Holds since it consists of five different holds , as opposed to the four in the east . Large landmarks in the area include the Karth River , Lake Ilinalta , and the Labyrinthian . History . Second Era . During the Interregnum , the province of Skyrim was ruled by High King Logrolf and was a close ally to the Second Empire of Reman Cyrodiil III . When Reman was assassinated by the Morag Tong in his chambers , many leaders of the Empire were killed as well ; this included Logrolf . Logrolf ' s daughter , Freydis , was to assume the throne after him . The Crown of Verity chose her to lead her people in the coming years . A Moot was made in the city of Solitude , and the Jarls of Skyrim chose Jarl Svartr of Solitude to become the next High King . Svartr had also claimed that Freydis was an illegitimate daughter to Logrolf , and that she did not deserve the throne . This conflict resulted in the province of Skyrim to split into two separate kingdoms , one with Freydis being High Queen , and one with Svartr being High King . Svartr ' s Skyrim would become known as the Kingdom of Western Skyrim . In 1E 980 , the city of Orsinium was besieged by the combined forces of Daggerfall and Sentinel . As a result , the many Orcish tribes living in Wrothgar were scattered throughout the Reach and beyond . They settled in places such as Upper Craglorn and Western Falkreath , which brought trouble onto the city of Falkreath . Yashnag gro - Yazgu established an Orcish Kingdom in Western Falkreath to reclaim the territory lost from the Nord s of ye old . Yashnag killed the Jarl of Falkreath in his conquest , leaving the Jarl ' s son , Hakkvild , to take revenge and assume the throne of Falkreath . The Orcish Berserkers gave West Skyrim and Svartr trouble by defeating squadrons sent from the capital . Hakkvild challenged Yashnag to a duel , resulting in Yashnag ' s defeat and the end of the Kingdom . Yashnag ' s endeavors would inspire Kurog gro - Bagrakh to build the second iteration of Orsinium . During the Alliance War , the Kingdom of Western Skyrim was ruled by High King Svargrim , an ancestor of Svartr . He had ruled the region since 2E 561 . Svargrim was of old age by the time the Alliance War came to fruition . Despite this , he had no intent of leaving the throne . West Skyrim was not involved in the Alliance War , unlike the Nords of East Skyrim , who make up a third of the Ebonheart Pact . Markarth became independent from West Skyrim and was ruled by Reachmen . The Despot of Markarth was known to conspire with the Order of the Black Worm and Mannimarco , the King of Worms . Fourth Era . West Skyrim dissolved sometime before the Third Era , when Tiber Septim first became the new Emperor of Tamriel . Despite the Kingdom dissolving , remnants of this ideology still existed in Skyrim . The denizens of Western Skyrim were firm believers of the Third Empire , and felt that Skyrim was in better hands with the Empire . Skyrim would not be split this way again at the beginning of 4E 201 . The Jarl of Windhelm , Ulfric Stormcloak defeated High King Torygg in a duel that ultimately killed him in the process . Ulfric utilized the Thu ' um to subsequently kill Torygg , which branded Ulfric a murderer throughout the cities in Skyrim . Solitude , Markarth , Morthal , and Falkreath banded together to fight against the Old Holds and Ulfric ' s army , the Stormcloaks . The city of Whiterun was in a gray area of the war , but it still saw support in the Empire . West Skyrim and East Skyrim would fight against each other in an event called the Skyrim Civil War .