Lore talk:Summerset Isle

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Can you get there?[edit]

Hey does any one know if you can get to summerset isle. If so where is it and how do you get to it? --— Unsigned comment by 204.72.171.81 (talk)

Quite simply, you can't. The only game in the series that allowed you to travel to Summerset Isle was the first one: Arena, which had the whole continent. There are unconfirmed rumors that Summerset Isle may be the location of the next game, which won't be for another couple of years now. (However, Summerset Isle was also rumored to be the location of the last one, and that proved incorrect. Also, there is reason to believe that the next game may take place in Skyrim, though that's unconfirmed as well.) --TheRealLurlock Talk 21:34, 11 April 2007 (EDT)

Summerset Isle[edit]

In northern Canada (the real country) There is an island called "Somerset Island." I figured that might be what gave them the idea for the name.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_Island_and_Fort_Ross — Unsigned comment by 99.242.229.127 (talk)

It may or may not be. We can't be sure. --Mankar CamoranTCE 10:22, 20 December 2007 (EST)
So there is absolutely no way u can possibly get into Summerset isle until the new game comes out?
Absolutely no way. IWon'tFightUndead 00:52, 1 May 2008 (EDT)
I recognize this particular comment is over a decade old, but note for anyone seeing this now that the original Somerset on Great Britain and/or one of its lords (just the Wars of the Roses alone had two different Dukes of Somerset feature prominently) is more likely than a place in Canada named after it. --Agiletek (talk) 17:17, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

Crystal-Like-Law[edit]

I'm forgetting the name of the Aldmeri tower, but it should probably be put in places of note. — Unsigned comment by Temple-Zero (talkcontribs)

We got Ceporah Tower in the text, is this the same as the Crystal-like-Law (Crystal Tower, what its called in Arena and Daggerfall; I have at least one book calling it that) you're asking about? Further, what would be a good name for the Tower Page, just "Tower" seems... odd. The others acknowledged are Red Tower (Red Mountain), White-Gold (duh), Orichalc, Green-Sap (the hist guys), Walk-Brass (Numidium), Snow Throat (Throat of the World) and some unnamed. If nothing comes to mind, I'll make a stub page under "Towers" a little later. --BenouldTC 14:35, 5 August 2008 (EDT)

Will the next game take place here?[edit]

(moved to General talk:The Future of TES Games#Will the next game take place in Summerset Isle?)

Spelling wrong in many maps?[edit]

It seems to me that many maps I've seen on uesp spell this land's name as ILSE instead of ISLE. Is this on purpose? 80.213.142.66 00:01, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

I could not find a single one with the ILSE spelling, please give me a link, or I think you just misread it. Alpha Kenny Buddy 00:05, 14 January 2011 (UTC)
Here's a link: File:RG-map-West Tamriel-1024x768.png 80.213.142.66 23:44, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Rename article Alinor?[edit]

The Aldmeri Dominion has renamed the Summerset Isle to Alinor. Oblivion nerd 18:20, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

as far as I have seen, only the Thalmor mention the place is named that. There are some people that call Black Marsh "Argonia", but since its almost universally recognized as Black Marsh, that's what it is. I see it the same with the Isles. ESTEC 17:01, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
I agree. The state has been known as "Summerset Isles" (give or take a few letters) throughout the rest of the series. Alinor is also the name of a city, which would make this even more confusing than the Black Marsh/Argonia situation. It may be worth adding this page to the Lore:Alinor disambiguation, and it should also be noted as an alternate name in the opening sentence. --Legoless 17:09, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
I will take care of both right now. ESTEC 20:56, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
Done. ESTEC 21:03, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Gender of the Altmer in the portrait[edit]

Description text says it's a male, though it looks more female to me. I had changed it from "Illustration of a typical Altmer male" to just "Illustration of a typical Altmer", making no references to gender like most of the other pages using the image, but then it was changed back to the previous. Is it a male or a female? As I said, it looks more female to me. ChrisJG (talk) 16:10, 6 October 2012 (GMT)

Well, seeing as all the other portraits we have of the races, they are all male. Which would lead me to believe that the Altmer is male too.--Skyrimplayer (talk) 16:16, 6 October 2012 (GMT)
Also, if it's a female, she's the most flat-chested female in TES. This is a fantasy role-play video game series; A-cups are practically the only thing that don't exist. The arms seem a little hairy for a woman, too. And if that's a woman's face, it's a very ugly woman, hardly a good representative for the Altmer race, and a good representative for the Altmer race is presumably what they were going for. Anyways, there's a reason why the Altmer are sometimes derogatorily referred to as "feminine". Many of their men are not supposed to be overly macho in appearance. Minor EditsThreatsEvidence 16:36, 6 October 2012 (GMT)
Whatever the gender of the individual in the picture, I felt that removing any text saying that it's a specific gender would be a fair way of playing it safe. As for the arms, I think that's just the way the artist did the shading. But still, giving the picture a closer look, whilst still looking quite feminine the individual's gender seems more ambiguous to me. I don't know, but I feel it'd be safer to not give any mention of the sex of the individual in the portrait. ChrisJG (talk) 16:48, 6 October 2012 (GMT)
There's nothing to play safe here; all the picture does now is erroneously suggest that a male Altmer is a typical Altmer. I think you're underestimating the import of what Skyrimplayer said. Every other photo in the batch this came from was of a male- Orc, Khajiit, Dunmer, Breton, Imperial, Redguard, Argonian, Nord, and Bosmer. There's absolutely no reason to think they would throw in a combo-breaker with the Altmer photo, and we have in-game justifications to support the idea that male Altmer often look a little like a female at first glance. They're supposed to look a little feminine. Besides in-game descriptions of the race, just look at the male Altmer face examples here; some of those faces in the top two rows you might not guess would be male, either, but they definitely are. I, for one, see absolutely no reason to doubt that it portrays a male Altmer, and if we remained silent on the matter, we would be encouraging a needless question which should not exist, because all common sense dictates that it's a male. Sorry to lay it on so thick, but your first impression has led you astray here, Chris, and I don't want that false impression to snowball into many false impressions, which is what would happen if we didn't explicitly state the gender of the Altmer in the photo. Minor EditsThreatsEvidence 17:35, 6 October 2012 (GMT)
I can see what you're getting at and no need to worry about laying it on thick, what you said needed to be said. I don't know why there's no mention of gender of the figure in the portrait on the other articles, but as the pictures for all the other races are males as has been mentioned, then why not this one? I suppose it's time that this ambiguity is cleared up so that, as you said, things don't snowball. ChrisJG (talk) 18:13, 6 October 2012 (GMT)

Sun Birds of Alinor[edit]

What is it with this MK forum comment that people don't like on this website? It contradicts nothing as there is no established lore which states that the Sun Birds of Alinor were Altmer/Aldmer. What makes this even more ridiculous is that MK is the one who wrote the Pocket Guide to the Empire, which is the only book to mention the Sun Birds of Alinor. AldmeriDominion (talk) 21:58, 27 August 2013 (GMT)

In all honesty, MK is a disgruntled ex-employee who is blowing his nose at the entire series. I would love it if absolutely none of his post-Bethesda work was ever referenced here. That being said, the claim in this particular forum post is more ridiculous than normal. Jeancey (talk) 22:47, 27 August 2013 (GMT)

Recurring Locations[edit]

Now that Summerset has been recently been released in ESO and more lore pages are popping up, I thought I'd take the time to post a list of all the locations returning from previous games (aka the ones visitable in Arena and/or described in later games, i.e. Wasten Coridale) that have now returned in ESO (i.e. Wasten Coraldale). It seems that nearly the entire geography of the island's locations in ESO is based off how it appears in Arena, so much so that the original drafts for the zone were mostly scrapped (besides the Maormer/Sload stuff), meaning most of the marked ESO locations (though some have slightly different names) already appeared in TES 1. I've been working on this list since the zone was datamined, and for to save everybody a lot of researching, here's the links between the games that I've found:

Obvious Locations

These places mostly have the same names and should be recognized instantly, but I'm listing them here for completeness:

  • Alinor — Appears as cities in both games
  • Cloudrest — Appeared as a city in Arena, re-appears in ESO as a mountain-based city from info described in later games
  • Corgrad Wastes — Appeared as a town in Arena and re-appears as derelict ruins of a town in ESO
  • Crystal Tower — Appeared as part of the main quests in both Arena and ESO
  • Ebon Stadmont — Appeared as a town in Arena, re-appears as a grove in ESO
  • Lillandril — Appears as cities in both games, though the Arena location is now in the spot of the Cathedral of Webs
  • Sea Keep — Appeared as a town in Arena, re-appears as a military fortress in ESO in a slightly more eastward spot
  • Shimmerene — Appears as cities in both games
  • Sunhold — Appears as cities in both games
  • Wasten Coridale — Talked about this one already; now called "Coraldale" in ESO but its loading screen confirms the "Coridale" alternative
Very Likely Locations

These places don't have 100% confirmation (closer to 95%) that they're the recurring, but with all the info we have its very easy to link them to previous locations:

  • Archon's Grove — The same location as the town of Archen Grangrove in Arena, it appears as a secluded river valley in ESO under a slightly newer name
  • Direnni Acropolis — This location didn't appear in Arena, but it matches up very well with the description of Tyrigel in De Rerum Dirennis
  • Dusk — This location was intended to appear in the very early drafts, but it seems that ESO cut it short, likely due to development constraints; a quite similar scenario to Jehanna/Jehanna Docks. A landmark called Dusk Keep appears in its place, but whether the city exists as of ESO's time is unknown.
  • Illumination Academy — First described in Meet the Character - Quen, it does not appear in Lillandril but rather a separate location east of it, but the description of the academy matches quite closely
  • Karnwasten — The town of Karnwasten Moor (Arena) or Karnstern Moor (Redguard) was originally on the western peninsula of Summerset, but its new ESO location is a cave on the northern tip of the Isle. Like many other recurring ESO locations, it has gone from being a generic town and is now a dungeon.
  • King's Haven Pass — Previously a town called Kings Haven or Kingshaven, it has been redesigned into a mountain pass, but the name remains virtually the same.
  • Russafeld — The name has been restyled from the town of Rosefield in Arena, to Rosfeld in Redguard, and is now known as Russafeld. It appears very close to the Arena location so I have no doubt its the same town as Rosefield.
  • Rellenthil — This one is a little more complicated, having gone numerous name changes. According to datamining in ESO, the original name for the Rellenthil Sinkhole as the "Rellenfeld Sinkhole", meaning its ESO name was Rellenfeld before release. Originally called Riverfield (Arena), it morphed into Riverfeld (Redguard), into Rellenfeld (early drafts), and finally into the new name Rellenthil (ESO). It appears in the same spot as Riverfield in Arena, and I'd assume ZOS changed up the name to something more unique to differentiate it from nearby locations.
  • Sil-Var-Woad — Similar to Gilverdale to Gil-Var-Delle or Tenmar Wall to Ten-Maur-Wolk, this location went from being the town of Silver Wood in Arena to the zoo of Sil-Var-Woad in ESO. There's direct (albeit unintended) confirmation of this, since during the PTS, there was a bug were the name would sometimes be seen as "Silverwood".
  • Tor-Hame-Khard — This location was previously called Thorheim Guard in Arena, but the name was restyled into the similar sounding ruins of Tor-Hame-Khard for ESO. The location isn't the exact same, but its still in the general area of southeast Summurset.
Somewhat Possible Locations

The "recurring" status of these locations can be debated, since it's not super easy to piece together the links between their possible past versions, but I'm listing them here to put down clues on what/where they might have been in past games:

  • Alinor Docks — These dockyards are quite a ways from the city they earn their namesake from, seeing as there's a valley and keep between them, but their location is in the same position as Riverwatch from Arena. Perhaps the docks grew large enough to be their own town but who knows.
  • Belport Run — In Arena, this was a town between Summurset and Auridon (Moridunon?). In ESO, there is an unmarked island in the exact same position as the town, and while its likely they're the same location, there's not a single mention of "Belport" anywhere in ESO to confirm this.
  • Cey-Tarn Keep — I believe this location is based off of Marnor Keep from Arena. While "Cey-Tarn" is quite different from "Marnor" (probably for originality), the ESO location is not very far from the Arena one, and since its rather apparent that most of the locations are based off of Arena already, its not too far-fetched that these two keeps are the same place.
  • Karndar Watch — Prior to the announcement of Summurset, two locations called "Kandar Watch" and "Karndar" were datamined, likely meaning that it was intended to play a more notable role. In the final release however, it seems Karndar Watch is now an unmarked Aldmeri ruin, with a few imps, an indrik, and a lorebook being the only notable things there. Given that this ruin is in the same area as the Arena town, I think it was intended to be accessible dungeon (similar to "Apocrypha's Gate") cut for unknown reasons.
  • Marbruk Brook — This location is absent from ESO, likely to avoid confusion with the Altmer town of Marbruk in Greenshade, though the Augury Basin can be found in its place. Given that a brook is the term for a water stream, its possible that the shallow waters in this area are as a whole the Marbruk Brook, but that's just a guess.
  • Veyond Wyte — This one's a little tough, given that the only mention of what this location could be is the wayshrine named after it. The name is most probably Aldmeric for the region of the northern peninsula, possibly the Cape of the Blue Divide, but I can't find a clear translation. It's likely that the name is stylized from the town of White Guard in Arena, which stood at the location of what is now Sea Keep in ESO and was probably cut to avoid crowding of that area, and its name re-used (in a sense) for minor location.
Miscellaneous Locations

I'm listing these locations so that people might have a better idea of what happened to them, but they're mostly missing or just not recurring.

  • The Graddun Spring was a town in Graddun Spring now absent in ESO, but it is mentioned in a contraband item seemingly named for it. I think it might be the name for the waters between the Corgrad Geyser and Wastes and the Cathedral of Webs, but who knows.
  • Glenview - the only Arena location completely absent from Summerset Isle. It likely would have been the town of Isque or Felballin in very early drafts of the zone, and presently it seems it was scrapped since Sunhold's location was moved further west, leaving no space for Glenview to be present. Rest in peace kiddo.
  • Old Falls and Holly Falls are towns from Arena that don't appear as settlements, but if you go to where they would be on the ESO map, you can find some big waterfalls in their exact locations (one even has a skyshard).
  • Pretty much all of the striking locales (Alaxon'ald, Ald Mora Ruins, Cathedral of Webs, Eldbur Ruins, Garden of the Sacred Numbers, Gryphon Aerie, and Keep of the Eleven Forces) seem to be new non-recurring places, so I can't link them back to Arena locations. Same goes for group boss locations and abyssal geysers, but those ones likely won't appear again due to the temporary nature of group bosses in the greater timeline.
  • It seems the locations introduced in the Redguard Tamriel map didn't make the cut. No idea what "Slaughter" and "Croddlehurst" would be in ESO, but "Scutters Pond" could be the lake in The Vaults of Heinarwe and "Kingdom Fields" is the same region as the "Russafeld Heights". The early development draft stuff was also mostly scrapped as I've said before, but curiously, the three islands southwest of the mainland called "The Pearls" appear in the old Tamriel map and TES Anthology Map, but are now inaccessible and absent in the Summerset zone.

That's all I have to contribute about the consistency of locations between the games. I may have forgotten a thing or two and will add them here if I remember, but this list is mostly to assist those creating lore pages and as a sort of archive for those searching for these old locations. (Thank you to anyone who read all of this.) The Rim of the Sky (talk) 06:47, 1 July 2018 (UTC)

The locations that you listed as obvious and very likely should definitely be connected in lore, and people including me have been already doing that. The others seem to be too far of a stretch. Nice thing to read, though! --Vordur Steel-Hammer (TINV1K) 08:02, 1 July 2018 (UTC)

Name Change[edit]

Given that ESO refers to this island constantly as just "Summerset", it seems that should be made the primary name. "Summerset Isle" can stay as an alternate name of course but it doesn't look like its any more of a primary name than "Isle of Summerset". Would also probably help avoid confusion with the province. The Rim of the Sky (talk) 20:44, 25 March 2023 (UTC)

I would argue that Summerset Isle is more differentiated from Summerset Isles than Summerset is to it. Summerset feels like it could be, at first glance, shorthand for Summerset Isles as opposed to THE Summerset Isle. The ease of use there is why I support the current name. Mindtrait0r (talk) 23:00, 18 June 2023 (UTC)
I'm opposed to this rename. The current article titles are sufficient to distinguish the Isle from the Isles. "Summerset" is too generic a term and could be applied to the province generally. —⁠Legoless (talk) 21:30, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
Personally I feel that "Summerset Isle" is more confusingly identical to "Summerset Isles" than just "Summerset" is due to a one-letter difference. Due to how Summerset is a bit broad, I'm going to remove the rename proposal and keep the article's name the same. However, because the island is factually named "Summerset" and everybody living on it calls it that, I've reworded the intro to reflect this being its primary name. Until further notice the article's current name can stay. The Rim of the Sky (talk) 01:13, 1 July 2023 (UTC)
That rewording is inconsistent with common practice. The primary name of an article shouldn't be relegated to an "also known as" with a different name being used as the primary in the lead. --Enodoc (talk) 13:37, 1 July 2023 (UTC)
Agreed. Summerset Isle needs to be first. Mindtrait0r (talk) 20:20, 1 July 2023 (UTC)

It has...?[edit]

I don't know if this was an unintentional consequence of Rim of the Sky's recent edit, but the intro section now stops abruptly mid-sentence.--Draugluin (talk) 08:51, 1 July 2023 (UTC)