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Welcome to the Imperial Library, your source for Elder Scrolls lore since 1998. Browse our collections to the left, or join the discussion on the Storyboard above.
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Today is Middas, 4th of Frostfall
Necrom Chapter: Recommended Reading
The Necrom Chapter has added nearly 170 new books to the world of Tamriel. We have gone through the stacks of books on the shelves of Apocrapha to bring you the latest recommended reading list. Please be advised that there may be spoilers with the below books so please read at your own risk. We cannot protect you from the secrets of Apocrapha.
History and Myths:
Parables of Saint Vorys
The Spires of the 34th Sermon
Daedric Worship and the Dark Elves
Our Dunmer Heritage
A Brief History of House Telvanni
Visitor's Guide: Telvanni Peninsula
History of Necrom: The City of the Dead
Ranks and Titles of House Telvanni
The Eye of Baan Dar
The Prior's Fulcrum
Tamrielic Twins of Myth
Books about Morian Zenas:
Notes on Doors of Oblivion
Morian Zenas Cell Note
Sentient Beasts of the Gallery
Books about Mora, his realm and those who inhabit it:
On the Infinite Panopticon
The Currency of Secrets
Herma-Mora: The Woodland Man
Master of the Tides of Fate
What's an Arcanist? Part 1
What's an Arcanist? Part 2
What about Glyphics?
Ciphers of the Eye
Denizens of Apocrapha
On Cipher's Midden
Interesting Volumes found in Apocrapha:
The Remnant Truth
History of the Dreamstone
Predestination and Paradox: A Treatise
Commentary on Fate Dialectal
The Dangers of Truth
Interview with Loremaster - Michael Zenke
I recently got the chance to sit down with the new Loremaster of ESO, Michael Zenke and talk all about what it means to be loremaster. We got the chance to cover many topics from the contributions that he has made to the game, how his team tackles real world terminology, and even touching on the Eye of Argonia.
You can find the interview in our developer's interview section or follow the link below.
High Isle Chapter: Recommended Reading
Over 170 new books have been added to The Elder Scrolls Online's High Isle Chapter and among them is a treasure trove of new lore. Below is our curated picks broken down by category. This list includes the must read books from this Chapter.
History of the Systres Islands:
Systres History - Highly Recommended!
Secrets of Amenos
Visitor's Guide to Y'ffre's Couldron
Visitor's Guide to High Isle
The Colossus of Gonfalon Bay
The Society of the Steadfasts
Wyrd and Druid
Breton nobility lore:
Noble Ranks and Titles
Systres Knightly Orders Vol 1
Systres Knightly Orders Vol 2
History of House Dufort
History of House Mornard
All Flags Navy lore:
The Thrassian Plague
Baron-Admiral Bendu Olo
The All Flags Navy
Instrument of Vengeance
Construction of Monument Island
The All Flags Navy Started Here
Food Lore:
New Fauna Lore
Hadolid Researcher's Journal
A Hunter's Journey VI: Fauns
Notes on Vulk'esh
Ecology of the Ornaug
Theories: Soulrazer Knights
A Harrowing Sea Voyage
ESO High Isle Chapter: Lore Preview




2021 Year in Review
Pocket Guide to the Empire: Second Edition — 10th Anniversary Retrospective
On New Years Day 2012, Michael Kirkbride and Temple Zero unveiled the Pocket Guide to the Empire: Second Edition. The strange collection of texts became an instant classic, a capstone to the golden years of the Elder Scrolls Lore forum. Parts of its heresy bled into the collective psyche, were mistaken for orthodoxy, became the building blocks of new ideas, both official and fan-made.
Today, on the 10th anniversary of its publication, I am proud to bring you a behind the scenes look at the creation of the PGE2, never-before-seen info on its unreleased chapters, and an official compilation of released artwork and writing for the project.
Head over to its new home in the Community Archives and give it a read!
Deadlands DLC: Recommended Reading
The Imperial Library has added nearly 80 new books from the latest DLC of The Elder Scrolls Online - Deadlands. To prepare yourself for the chapter we have put together a small list of spoiler free books that help to introduce and expand upon the lore of the Daedra and the Deadlands.
Books about Mehrunes Dagon and his Realm:
A Guide to the Deadlands
Food of the Deadlands
Epics of Mehrunes Dagon, Volume 1
Epics of Mehrunes Dagon, Volume 2
Books about the nature of Daedra:
On the Nature of Oblivion
On the True Nature of Daedra
On Inferniums
On Dremora Clans
Dremora Stories about Mortals
The Legend of Deadlight
Books introducing Fargrave:
The Bearers of Fargrave
Fargrave Happenings
Visitor's Guide to Fargrave
Visitor's Guide to the Shambles
The Stricture and the Grasp
Official Dragon Dictionary
- Laar – Water
- Naaktiid - Begin (literally "eat time")
- Naas - Tooth
- Pelaan = Wrote
- Qalos - Bow
- Ros - Love
- Sindungahvon - Unyielding
- Vos - Claw
Or check them all out in our Dragon Dictionary page.
Introducing the Community Archives
Since 1998, the goal of the Imperial Library has been to preserve all Elder Scrolls lore — including out-of-game material, such as new texts, posts, threads, interviews, and roleplays by developers. The community has always been a large part of what makes Elder Scrolls lore unique, and today we are happy to officially announce a new section of the Library: the Community Archives. Supplementing our expansive developer posts and forum thread archives, the Community Archives will preserve important community-driven media.
This is not to say that the Imperial Library will now be freely hosting fan fiction, mods, roleplays, etc. While we strongly believe that these creations are wonderful, important, and deserving of preservation, the Imperial Library must keep the Archive very selective. To be included in the Community Archives, a work must meet at least 3 of these criteria:
- Collaboration - it must be a joint creation between fans and representatives (current or former) of Zenimax Media, or a fan project officially sanctioned and approved by Zenimax Media.
- Notability - it must have made an impact on officially published lore or a significant impact on the discussion of lore.
- Completion - it must be readable as a self-contained text or collection of texts, rather than an ongoing or open-ended project.
- Accessibility - the text must be difficult to access elsewhere, in danger of being lost, or presented in a medium that makes it accessible to more people.
We're kicking the section of with three projects to start:
- Loranna's RP - a forum roleplay that began with the Trial of Vivec and lasted through 2007. In addition to many of that era's preeminent lore scholars, TES writer Ted Peterson participated in the roleplay, and some of its ideas found their way into the 3rd Pocket Guide to the Empire and into TESIV: Oblivion.
- Morrowind Advanced - texts from the Morrowind Advanced mod by Bethesda developer Gary Noonan, created in collaboration with fans.
- Critical Role D&D Campaign - Blackwood-themed one-shots played by the Critical Role team as part of ESO:Blackwood promotion.