For the Nords of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the story of Ysgramor and the Five Hundred Companions is crucial to their culture, but what is believed to be historical fact is likely little more than myth. The Nords are a prideful race of humans who strongly hold they have a birthright to Skyrim because Ysgramor was the first human to settle it and Tamriel long ago. Though the Elder Scrolls has tales much more outlandish than this one that are true within the series' lore, the home of the Throat of the World has a history much more ancient than Nords' of the past suggests.
According to the Nords of Skyrim and its history, Ysgramor, a ruler of the ancient and lost country known as Atmora, was the first of all humans to settle in the country. At some point, the Snow Elves who lived there committed genocide against the Nords in what is known as the Night of Tears, and the only survivors were Ysgramor and his two sons. Ysgramor then returned to Atmora, gathered the Five Hundred Companions, and drove out the Snow Elves. This story has made Ysgramor an eternal hero to the Nords and is at the foundation of the nationalism that catapults them into civil war with the Empire in Skyrim.
Conveniently for Ysgramor, these accomplishments occurred before written history, and he is also known as the first historian of humans because of his ability to translate Elvish texts. This means that Ysgramor was responsible for some of the contents of the history and lore books in Skyrim, and the truth he may well have fabricated in these books presents him as a hero and the Nords as the rightful owners of Skyrim, if not all Tamriel. However, looking at the more substantial Elvish history and their own s of the past, Skyrim had actually been inhabited by Men and Mer alike long before Ysgramor. Moreover, Ysgramor was nowhere near being the honorable legend he claimed to be, or even the first human settler in Tamriel.
The Humans Of Skyrim's Ancient Past & Ysgramor's Crimes
According to the in-game book Skyrim: Frontier, Conquest, humans from Atmora had long traveled to Solstheim and Skyrim before Ysgramor. What's more, the race of Men who travelled to Tamriel from Atmora were, more often than not, the Nedes. The Nedic people were the ancestors of the Bretons, the Redguard, and Imperials, who lived among elves in Tamriel prior to the events of Skyrim. Nearing the beginning of the First Era, they began to thrive in all countries except for in Skyrim, where Ysgramor would eventually take over for the ancient Nords. This means that humans had settled for an unknown number of generations prior to the Atmoran King ever being born.
Moreover, most of the humans who moved from Atmora to Tamriel were dissidents and criminals. This shines a light on Ysgramor's crimes. Ysgramor fled Atmora as consequence of a civil war, suggesting that his reign as king was not appreciated by all inhabitants. But what is more problematic is that it says in Pocket Guide to the Empire: 1st Edition (via ancient race of Nords in Skyrim into a horrific excuse for them to continue their blasphemies against the Snow Elves, and indeed, they committed a terrible sin in successfully obliterating the Snow Elf population.
Unfortunately, most s of the Night of Tears in Skyrim present the lost race of the Mer as monsters and ask the question, "Whatever provoked the Snow Elves?" The answer is quite clear: Ysgramor, the hero of the Nords, was actually responsible for genocide and used his power to fabricate a history that presents him as a hero. Hopefully by the time Elder Scrolls 6 comes around, players can right the wrongs of the historical record in Skyrim.
Sources: Elder Scrolls Fandom, UESP
