When fighting them proved to be futile, Cadwell suggested that it might be best to trick the dragons, convincing them that the heroes were willing to help with their plans. To stop them, the Khajiit hero Khunzar-ri recruited four companions, Nurarion the Perfect, Flinthild Demon-Hunter, Anequina Sharp-Tongue and Sir Cadwell. In the land of Elsweyr, another dragon, by the name of Kaalgrontiid, led a horde of dragons to dominate the land, seeking to consume the lunar power of the twin moons, Masser and Secunda. The remaining dragons were hunted almost to extinction. These first Tongues would use their newfound power to turn the tide of the war, eventually succeeding in "shouting Alduin out of the world." This was believed to have destroyed Alduin, but instead sent him forward in time. The dragon Paarthurnax took pity on the Nords (supposedly at the request of Kyne), and instructed them in the ways of the thu'um, giving birth to the first Tongues, mortal masters of the Voice the dragon tongue. Some, especially priests of the Nine Divines, believed this to be Akatosh's intervention against his wayward son, and that some dragons had sided against their own kind. This was due to Alduin deciding to conquer the world, rather than destroy it as was his purpose, and would come to be known as the Dragon War.ĭuring the Dragon War, mortals found ways to kill the previously-unkillable dragons. According to Nordic legends, the dragon cult would terrorise and subjugate the mortal races under the command of Alduin, until a rebellion occurred. Despite this, however, some dragons are still described as being older than others, with Alduin and Paarthurnax being considered the oldest of their kind.ĭuring the Merethic Era, the population of Skyrim, Solstheim and Atmora, among other locations, were kept under the thrall of a widespread dragon-worshipping cult, who claimed to "keep the peace between dragons and men." The centre of this cult was the city of Bromjunaar, known since the Second Era as Labyrinthian. It was Alduin, Firstborn of Akatosh, who created their civilisation. According to the writings of Archmage Shalidor, dragons have existed in the world of Nirn since the Dawn Era, before the advent of sequential time, and were just as wild as any other beast. However, due to Kirkbride no longer working with Bethesda, the developers of the Elder Scrolls, it is unknown if there's any truth to this claim.ĭragons are said to be eternal, immortal, unchanging and unyielding.
Additionally, according to Michael Kirkbride, there exists female dragons known as "jills," who exist to mend Dragon Breaks: moments in time where multiple potential outcomes coalesced into a single point. There also exist creatures in the Iliac Bay known as "dragonlings," though they aren't actually related to the dragons, and the daedric titans, creations of the Daedric Prince Molag Bal designed to imitate the dragons, after Bal's fruitless interrogation of the dragon Boziikkodstrun. It is rumourded that Tosh Raka, leader of the Ka Po'Tun, the tiger people of Akavir, successfully managed to turn himself into a dragon. In the mind of a dragon, there is no difference between a fight and a discussion, and inter-dragon combat is in essence an incredibly deadly debate. The thu'um, coupled with their innate urge to dominate and control, make dragons are particularly threat to anyone, including other dragons. These shouts can grant a number of abilities, from the traditional fire or frost breath, to more esoteric abilities like turning oneself etherial, slowing down time or even ripping the soul from an enemy.
What is known for sure is that the dragons are the immortal children of Akatosh, the dragon god of time, and as such, are specially attuned to the flow of time.ĭragons are well-known for their affinity with magic, particularly in the form of the Thu'um, commonly referred to as Dragon Shouts. Dragon Land), whilst others claim they originally came from Atmora in the north. Some believe they came from the continent of Akavir (lit. It is unknown where the dragons came from.
Dragons (in the dragon language, Dov or Dovah, drah-gkon or dov-rha in Ancient Nordic, or Aka in Ehlnofex) are a rarely-seen race of large reptiles in the Elder Scrolls series.