The Elder Scrolls

In the language of the dragons:

Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin los vahriin,
Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!
Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan,
Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!

...

Huzrah nu, kul do od, wah aan bok lingrah vod,
Ahrk fin tey, boziik fun, do fin gein!
Wo lost fron wah ney dov, ahrk fin reyliik do jul,
Voth aan suleyk wah ronit faal krein

Ahrk fin zul, rok drey kod, nau tol morokei frod,
Rul lot Taazokaan motaad voth kein!
Sahrot Thu'um, med aan tuz, vey zeim hokoron pah,
Ol fin Dovahkiin komeyt ok rein!

Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin los vahriin,
Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!
Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan,
Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!

Ahrk fin Kel lost prodah, do ved viing ko fin krah,
Tol fod zeymah win kein meyz fundein!
Alduin, feyn do jun, kruziik vokun staadnau,
Voth aan bahlok wah diivon fin lein!

Nuz aan sul, fent alok, fod fin vul dovah nok,
Fen kos nahlot mahfaeraak ahrk ruz!
Paaz Keizaal fen kos stin nol bein Alduin jot,
Dovahkiin kos fin saviik do muz!

Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin los vahriin,
Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!
Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan
Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!

In English :

Dragonborn, Dragonborn, by his honor is sworn,
To keep evil forever at bay!
And the fiercest foes rout when they hear triumph's shout,
Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray!

Hearken now, sons of snow, to an age, long ago,
And the tale, boldly told, of the one!
Who was kin to both wyrm, and the races of man,
With a power to rival the sun!

And the voice, he did wield, on that glorious field,
When great Tamriel shuddered with war!
Mighty Thu'um, like a blade, cut through enemies all,
As the Dragonborn issued his roar!

Dragonborn, Dragonborn, by his honor is sworn,
To keep evil forever at bay!
And the fiercest foes rout when they hear triumph's shout,
Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray!

And the Scrolls have foretold, of black wings in the cold,
That when brothers wage war come unfurled!
Alduin, Bane of Kings, ancient shadow unbound,
With a hunger to swallow the world!

But a day, shall arise, when the dark dragon's lies,
Will be silenced forever and then!
Fair Skyrim will be free from foul Alduin's maw!
Dragonborn be the savior of men!

Dragonborn, Dragonborn, by his honor is sworn,
To keep evil forever at bay!
And the fiercest foes rout when they hear triumph's shout,
Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray!

This is what players will hear should they leave the Skyrim main menu screen on long enough, or the first track of the soundtrack. Skyrim is the most recent ‘main’ Elder Scrolls game, and the fifth main one. The other entries include the very first game (Arena), Elder Scrolls II (Daggerfall), Elder Scrolls III (Morrowind), Elder Scrolls IV (Oblivion), Elder Scrolls V (Skyrim), and the sixth game is in early stages of development. There is also an MMO, titled Elder Scrolls Online.

So, what is The Elder Scrolls? It’s a series of role playing video games set in the fictional world of Tamriel, with most games taking place within a specific continent (or province). Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Skyrim are all named after locations on the Tamriel map. The game world is completely open ended to the point of it being possible to completely level up without even touching the main quest. Players can select a class, but are not limited to that class, and can buold and level up their character however they wish (in my instance, I tend to favour a ‘spell sword’ type class: light armor, destruction magic for ranged, and sword and shield for up close.). there also various species to choose from, which are customizable in appearance – but do remember you’ll most likely wear a helmet or headgear for most of the game.

The game series became truly popular with the release of Morrowind. That game is pretty much the beginning of The Elder Scrolls titles we know today. From that entry onward, the games have given us incredible graphics, an immersive game world (to the point that there is its own calendar – days of the week, names of the months, times and even the citizens have schedules.) and deep, detailed lore. It’s possible to spend a vast amount of real time in the in-game libraries leafing through books that exist in the game world.

The game world is littered with towns, forts, caves…all one would expect from a traditional fantasy game. Even wildlife. Be wary of wolves and bears. Bandits and highway-men prowl the main road, hoping to overtake travellers.

So much has gone into thee games, you feel immersed not necessarily because the games are addicting (they CAN be) but because the world is actually alive. Also, you can’t do much with playing approximately half an hour in real time. I tend to commit 45 minutes – 2 hours per sitting or playing, though I admit sometimes I’ve gone from 2 -4 hours without noticing the real time go by.

The music is also incredible. Some of my favourite soundtracks happen to be video game ones – Morrowind onwards by Jeremy Soule. [I’ve yet to listen to the entire score to The Elder Scrolls Online]

This post doesn’t really have anything to do with Tolkien, but I’ll quickly add that these are the games he would definitely love, or be interested in – especially Skyrim given it’s Nordic influences. Also, at this point, I’m not sure how deep my own lore will go for my book series, but the quality I strive for is Tolkien’s Middle-earth stories, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, and The Elder Scrolls.

My introduction to the series was when Morrwind came out. Sadly, I did not play it when it was ‘new’ but that’s when Ifirst heard of the series. Possibly, I may have seen a few pictures or a review when Daggerfall was out. But my first game I played of the series? Oblivion. For that game,a s well as MOST games, I either wait for the “Game of the Year Edition”, or all the content to be released. That way, I go in completely raw, and hopefully, get all the content for the price of the game when it was first initially released. With Skyrim, however, due to the nature of how dlc was working, I was not sure if there would be a Game of the Year (dubbed ‘Legendary Edition’), so I bought all the content individually, but all at once. And now, because I have a PC good enough to run Skyrim (on ultra high, of course) I’m playing through that game. I won’t post my stats etc here, but I’m having quite a bit of fun with it.

Also, some gamers have been saying that this ‘generation’ is the ‘remake generation’ because of the abundance of remakes, remasters, etc… In the fall, Skyrim will get that treatment. Called “Special Edition”, it will be coming to PS4, XBOXONE, and PC. The Special Edition is a remastering, and will feature all the content present in the Legendary Edition (Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Hearthfire…) Since many of us have mods, or the ‘hi res texture pack’ a remaster may seem unnessecary. Perhaps so. This release is aimed at the console gamers. But, to not screw over PC gamers that are interested in this that already own the game, it’s offered for free if you own either the Legendary Edition, or all the content. I’m going to hold off on installing that release once available, but when I get my NEXT PC, I’ll give it a shot, so that I may run it on ultra high graphics settings well. I guess you could say those are my ‘demands’ for The Elder Scrolls games: all content available (be it by way of Game of the Year or not), and the ability to run it in ultra high quite smoothly and worry free.

As you can see, I quite like this series of games. Skyrim became the most popular, but that’s not why I like it, or these games, is not because of ‘hype’ but because the games and the content itself is of great interest to me – me being a fantasy fan (since about the age of 6).

I look forward to finishing my first playthrough of Skyrim, as well as my second character. Depending on how long a wait it will be until The Elder Scrolls VI, I will also enjoy another playthrough of Skyrim by way of the special edition once I can run it on ultra high.