Lore:Northern Coast

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Northern Coast
Type Region
Continent Tamriel
Appears in Skyrim, ESO
Dawnstar, a city built at sea level on the Northern Coast
Frozen Coast ca. 2E 582

The Northern Coast is a large ragged and rugged stretch of land and ice sheets situated primarily within the province of Skyrim, making up the frigid snow-covered coastline with the Sea of Ghosts.[1]:55 It is considered to be a landmark of the Pale, as the Hold takes up a bigger portion of the blizzard-filled wastelands than other regions around its Sea Shore Foothills area. The Coast is contiguous across three provinces, including five holds within Skyrim and also extends into the Icy Shore of High Rock and the Great Valley of Morrowind. The frigid waters of the Northern Coast are tough to survive near,[1]:253 and its treacherous nature causes many shipwrecks, necessitating the use of lighthouses.[1]:357 Hardy flora such snowberries thrives in this area.[2]

Geography[edit]

The westernmost part of the Northern Coast is the Icy Shore within the boundaries of High Rock, encompassing the Wrothgarian cities of Farrun and Jehanna. Any coastline beyond that point borders either the Great Bay or the Azurian Sea. To the east of the Icy Shore are the glaciers of Rkindaleft and mountainous areas north of the Forgotten Vale, where the mysterious Blackbone Isle can be found off the coast.[3]

West of the Forgotten Vale is the Giant's Coast of Haafingar, a rather empty tundra with a number of grottos, giant camps, and a few towers, such as Northwatch Keep.[1][4] Islands off the Giant's Coast include Castle Volkihar, a mysterious keep dreaded by sailors of the region and home to the Volkihar Clan, and Kyne's Aegis, a bastion that includes the town of Kyne's Perch. Land found further towards the Solitude Inlet gradually becomes more lush, featuring landmarks like the Wolf's Eye Lighthouse on the cusp of the coast,[1]:357 before meeting the Great Arch and going further inland along the Karth River and ending at the Clearpine Forest.

The ice-encrusted shore east of the Great Arch never thaws, earning it the name of the Frozen Coast. The coastline extends into the territory of the Pale, Hjaalmarch's neighbors to the east.[5] Only a small part of it is found in northeastern Hjaalmarch Hold, being made up of the frozen Mouths of the Karth in the Drajkmyr Marsh and the inland portions of the Hailstone Valley.[4] The rest of it is made up of the entire northern portion of the Pale around its Sea Shore Foothills area.[1]:473 The Coast is considered to end at the floating chunks of ice in the Winterhold Glaciers.[1]:142

Past the Ice Fields and Anthor Range is Hsaarik Head, a prominent landmark of Skyrim seen as where the Northern Coast resumes, being the westernmost area of the Broken Cape. This land was once much bigger before the Great Collapse caused large portions of it to be swallowed by the sea. Numerous islands, such as Japhet's Folly and Serpentstone Isle can be found off the coast.[6]

The last area of the Northern Coast within Skyrim is Giant's Run, which includes the mouth of the White River. Fulstrom Homestead is found on the eastern side, and the islands of Bleakrock Isle and Solstheim are found nearby.

The Northern Coast continues past the Velothi Mountains and into the Great Valley of Morrowind, near Blacklight. It finally ends at the Inner Sea, across from the island of Vvardenfell.[7]

History[edit]

The Nords were the first Men to "return" to Tamriel, colonizing the northern coast of Tamriel before recorded history, led by the legendary Ysgramor.[8]

The Sea Giants raid the northern coast when "the Pale grows frigid as a draugr's heart, horkers freeze to death on the rocks, and trolls weep from the bitter cold." A winter such as this was encountered in 2E 532, and in a frosty gale on the coast, one of their longships gliding through the snow and sleet.[9]

Torradan ap Dugal was born in the town of Dunbarrow on the northern coast of Skyrim in the third century of the Third Era.[10]

Gallery[edit]

  • Icy Shore

  • Giant's Coast

  • Hailstone Valley

  • Broken Cape

  • Giant's Run

  • Northern grub-fur helmet

  • Fort Boar and the Nordic tribes on the fringe

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Prima Official Game Guide — David Hodgson
  2. ^ The Strength of Giants quest in ESO
  3. ^ Celeste's Note — Celeste
  4. ^ a b Giant's Coast and Hailstone Valley ritual site names
  5. ^ Frozen Coast Loading Screen
  6. ^ Galmar Stone-Fist's dialogue in Skyrim
  7. ^ The Second Akaviri Invasion — Yngmaer Raven-Quill, Historian Royal of the Bards' College, Solitude
  8. ^ The Annotated Anuad
  9. ^ Letter to Thane Ogvar — Thunvilde
  10. ^ Cap'n Dugal's Journal — Torradan ap Dugal
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