Welcome to ELDER LORE

Our blog and podcast have been around for almost three years! In commemoration we have re-designed our blog, now featuring the amazing artwork of Alexey Rudikov. Google him, now.

To date, we have had over 195,000 views to our blog. Our best day was June 5 2012 when we had just over 800 views in a single day. Most of those views were for our episode on the Morag Tong and the Dark Brotherhood.

So, welcome and thanks for visiting. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, you can add the RSS feed manually (http://bit.ly/K6v76V), or you can listen to the episodes here on the blog.

On the Character Crusade Podcast

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the lovely gentlemen from the Character Crusade podcast. They had me on their show to talk about issues of lore, immersion, and lore-friendliness. They have a wonderfully interesting and well produced program and I would highly recommend subscribing. You can listen to their most recent episode here. The interview starts a little ways in. We even talk a little bit about the Elder Scrolls related projects I’ve been working recently. You’ll have to listen if you want any details. Enjoy.

Updating Episodes

I have fixed a couple of the episodes that people seem to be having the most trouble downloading. I’ve provided new links for the Numidium and Myth and Cosmology episodes. If you come across other broken episodes, just let me know and I will get around to fixing them. I have also been emailing listeners links to episodes if they have trouble accessing them, which I would be happy to continue doing.

So, the podcast has been inactive for awhile…

…and I feel like you guys and gals deserve an explanation.

Once again, life has gotten in between me and my podcast. It’s not something that I’m particularly upset about, but it does make me sad that can’t find time to work on the podcast. I thought that when I finished graduate school I would have all of this extra time. Well, that came and went. I graduated in May with an MFA in Digital Media. My thesis project was a four minute animation about duelling samurai. Summer came and I spent every extra moment I could with my beautiful daughter, who is almost a year-and-a-half old at this point. After summer came September and I, along with every other public school teacher in the United States, went back to work. I teach, I come home and spent time with my wife and daughter, I play video games for a bit (I am currently really enjoying The Long Dark, by the way), and then go to sleep.

None of these things are upsetting to me. I love spending time with my family and my daughter. I love being a high school art teacher. I love playing video games. I also love working on the podcast, but it has slowly slid to the back-burner.

I am glad to say that the podcast is continually getting new listeners. I still get emails a few times a week from people who have just stumbled across it, and want to thank and congratulate me. We are very close to surpassing the 200,000 visitor mark, which is extremely exciting to me. 200,000 viewers! That’s crazy! Over the course of our fifty episodes we have spent about 13 hours discussing the intricacies and absurdities of Elder Scrolls lore.

So, you might be asking, what about that sixth season I’ve heard so much about? Well, I still want to keep it a secret. I am not abandoning the podcast, I’m just keeping you updated on why we have been inactive for a while. I’ve been working with an author within the community to adapt some of their lore-based work into a kind of radio drama. A few episodes have been finished, but there is a long way to go. It represents a slight departure from what we’ve done in the past, but still stays true to the neverending quest for Elder Scrolls knowledge we have always had. The scripts for each episode amount to (in some cases) ten pages of writing. The episodes clock in at over an hour each. I am excited by the project, and you should be to too. It also represents a significant increase in the amount of tender love and care that I have to put into recording and editing each episode. Inactive might not be the right word to use when describing the state of the podcast, because I have been working on these new episodes since the beginning of the summer. The work has been slow and arduous, however. That’s about all I want to say about it right now.

So, you might also be asking, what can I expect in the future? Well, someday I would like to have all ten episodes finished and uploaded for your enjoyment. Also, conceivably, somewhere down the line (after Fallout 4, of course) a new Elder Scrolls game will come out. There is new lore that has been added with the release of The Elder Scrolls Online, but I will remain quiet on those topics until I can be sure that Bethesda will consider them canon.

That about brings you up to speed. The blog and the Facebook page will remain up and I will update them as time goes on. I still check my Elder Lore email address regularly, so you can contact me with questions or suggestions or problems.

Keep on keepin’ on.

The Iliad and the Elder Scrolls

As we prepare our next season, one of our listeners has decided to help us bridge the gap by sending to us a paper he’s written examining the lore of the Elder Scrolls universe when contrasted with Greek mythology.

Tamriel, also known as “Dawn’s Beauty” in the Elven tongue, or “Tah’zukhan” in the language of the Dragons; is the continent on which all The Elder Scrolls games take place. Tamriel is a land of many unique natives, and even more mysteries and conflicts. Many have experienced this world through their own adventures, but completely overlooked many hidden secrets. In The Elder Scrolls mythology there are hundreds of undeniable similarities to that of Greek mythology, acting as an example as to how our understanding of Greek mythology may have changed.

The paper, in its entirety, is available now!

C0DA, Part Two of Two (and the Ending of the Fifth Season)

We close up our fifth season by wrapping up our discussion of C0DA. C0DA has polarized the lore community for a number of reasons. Some people rejoice that the idea of canon has been destroyed, as it seems to be a constantly recurring question as time goes on. Others see no need to have interesting discussions about existing Elder Scrolls lore if as long as there is no canon. What’s to say something did or did not happen, when we can all have our own Elder Scrolls canon. What do you think?

Listen to the episode now…

C0DA, Part One of Two

C0DA is a comic book written by Michael Kirkbride and illustrated by numerous really excellent artists (as seen above) that takes place during the Fifth Era. If you are planning on reading the script (art isn’t finished yet) then don’t bother listening to this episode until you have done so. I would highly recommend reading it, over hearing me talk about it. Seriously.

In this first of two episodes we tackle the first half (about) of the script, in summary. In our second part we will finish up the summary, and discuss briefly what the implications are.

Faolan, the Red Eagle, Lord of the Reach

It was past mid-day when the Wanderer passed through Rorikstead. He could be seen bent and hobbling up the easterly road. He was well known in that small farming village, for he had passed through many times before. The children knew him as a man of many stories, and often looked for his arrival expectantly. These were simple people, who didn’t bother themselves much with the doings of the wider world. As such, the children were always wanting for stories of dragons and wizards and great battles.

The call went up as soon as the Wanderer was spotted, and soon he was surrounded by excited children. He seemed reluctant at first, as if he was on his way somewhere important on some grand errand and could sacrifice no time to stop and spin tales, but eventually he relented. The road had wearied him greatly, and he could use the rest.

He sat at the foot of a great tree, off the road a ways, and slumped and grumbled until he was comfortable. The children sat around him, waiting eagerly to hear his story.

Listen to the whole episode here…

The Siege of Sky Haven Temple

Late in the First Era, during the reign of Emperor Kastav of the Reman Dynasty, Imperial forces laid siege to the great northern temple of the Dragonguard. Over time, the event was forgotten and the annals that recorded such events grew old and rotted. Over 600 years passed, and a scribe known as Brother Annulus took it upon himself to copy the texts over before they were lost completely. What follows are accounts of the actions of the Dragonguard between the years 2800 and 2819, beginning with the siege of Sky Haven Temple and ending with the dedication of Alduin’s Wall.

Check out our newest episode, now!

Olaf and the Dragon

We tackle the varying accounts of the story of how Olaf One-Eye rode the dragon Numinex back to Whiterun, imprisoning it deep within the keep (which would henceforth be known as Dragonsreach). Some say he was a great hero the likes of which will never be seen again, others say he was a treacherous liar. Decide for yourself after listening to our newest episode!