The world of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is filled with colorful and sometimes confusing pieces of lore, drawing players into a world in which exploration may at times only prompt more questions. Discovering locations, conversations, and books can lead to the discovery of new topics to learn about, something players interested in Skyrim's dwarves know all too well.
Skyrim has over three hundred books, many of which explain worldbuilding aspects of the series as a whole or otherwise tie in to events that occurred in previous Elder Scrolls games. But as the franchise nears its 30th anniversary, some questions still remain unanswered. One of the more mysterious unexplained topics is the disappearance of the dwarven race, the Dwemer.
Dwemer ruins can be spotted all across Skyrim's map, but the game doesn't give players many clues about how they ended up abandoned. Although the Dwemer are a topic of interest in many Elder Scrolls games, in order to best answer the question of what happened to the dwarves, players should look back to Morrowind in particular.
The Disappearance of the Dwemer in Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls introduces several characters who are connected to the Dwemer - Calcelmo in Skyrim, for example, is a scholar with a deep interest in dwarven history - but perhaps the most pertinent among them is Yagrum Bagarn in Morrowind. As the last known living Dwemer, he is able to translate two books for the player that provide a couple theories about how and why the dwarves may have vanished. Though nothing is concrete - the disappearance of the Dwemer is explained to have occurred centuries before any of The Elder Scrolls games occurred - here's what can be learned from speaking to him.
Kagrenac, the High Engineer of the Dwemer, is the author of the book Divine Metaphysics, which outlines his theories on how to create a new god. Yagrum Bagarn states that his intent was to improve the Dwemer race - and the book The Egg of Time illustrates that Kagrenac may have used special tools on an aedric artifact, the Heart of Lorkhan, in order to attach the Dwemer to its power. Although The Egg of Time posits that nothing drastic could occur in this process, Yagrum Bagarn argues otherwise - raising the question of whether the disappearance of the dwarves is proof of success or failure in Kagrenac's experiments.
Despite this theory, there are no certain answers regarding what exactly happened to the Dwemer, and their disappearance remains a mystery that continues to have profound effects on the series. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim provides many opportunities to explore dwarven ruins and the remains of their culture, leaving players with the option to dive deeper into the mystery of the Dwemer themselves.