This article delves into one of the most enduring mysteries in the Elder Scrolls universe: the disappearance of the Dwemer, or Dwarves as they are sometimes known. This enigmatic race vanished from the face of Tamriel during the First Era, leaving behind only their incredible ruins and perplexing artifacts. For players of Skyrim and fans of the wider Elder Scrolls lore, the question “Skyrim Do We Learn Why The Dwemer Disappear?” is a common one. While Skyrim itself offers some clues, a deeper understanding requires exploring texts and theories found throughout the Elder Scrolls games. This article, presented as a scholarly report, aims to shed light on this fascinating enigma, drawing upon in-game sources to explain the most widely accepted theory behind the Dwemer’s sudden and complete vanishing.
The Dwemer’s Ambition: Transcendence and Apotheosis
The Dwemer were not content with the limitations of mortal existence. Driven by their advanced understanding of science, magic, and what they termed “tonal architecture,” they sought to transcend the boundaries of mortality and achieve a form of enlightenment. At the heart of their grand ambition was Lord Kagrenac, a brilliant magecrafter and philosopher considered the foremost mind of his era. Kagrenac dedicated himself to devising tools capable of manipulating what he called “mythopoeic forces.” These were fundamental energies that shaped reality itself, and Kagrenac believed he could harness them to elevate the Dwemer race beyond their mortal coil.
As Yagrum Bagarn, the last known living Dwemer, explained:
Lord Kagrenac, the foremost arcane philosopher and magecrafter of my era, devised tools to shape mythopoeic forces, intending to transcend the limits of Dwemer mortality. However, in reviewing his formulae, some logicians argued that side effects were unpredictable, and errors might be catastrophic. I think Kagrenac might have succeeded in granting our race eternal life, with unforeseen consequences — such as wholesale displacement to an Outer Realm. Or he may have erred, and utterly destroyed our race.
— Yagrum Bagarn
Yagrum’s words highlight the Dwemer’s audacious goal and the inherent risks involved. They were venturing into uncharted territories of magic and metaphysics, seeking to reshape their very existence.
Kagrenac’s Tools and the Power of the Heart of Lorkhan
To achieve their ambitious goals, Kagrenac forged a set of legendary artifacts known as Kagrenac’s Tools. These were not mere magical instruments; they were specifically designed to interact with a source of immense power discovered deep beneath Red Mountain in Morrowind: the Heart of Lorkhan. Lorkhan, a key figure in the creation myths of Tamriel, is often depicted as a trickster god whose actions led to the formation of the mortal plane, Mundus. According to ancient texts, his heart was cast down to Nirn in the Dawn Era as punishment.
The document Kagrenac’s Tools details the purpose of these artifacts:
Beneath Red Mountain, Dwemer miners discovered a great magical stone. By diverse methods, Lord Kagrenac, High Priest and Magecrafter of the ancient Dwemer, determined that this magical stone was the heart of the god Lorkhan, cast here in the Dawn Era as a punishment for his mischief in creating the mortal world. Determined to use its divine powers to create a new god for the exclusive benefit of the Dwemer, Kagrenac forged three great enchanted artifacts, which are called “Kagrenac’s Tools.” Wraithguard is an enchanted gauntlet to protect its wearer from destruction when tapping the heart’s power. Sunder is a enchanted hammer to strike the heart and produce the exact volume and quality of power desired. Keening is an enchanted blade that is used to flay and focus the power that rises from the heart.
— Kagrenac’s Tools
Alt Text: A concept art image depicting a Dwemer Centurion, showcasing the advanced technology and metallic aesthetic characteristic of the Dwemer race.
These tools – Wraithguard, Sunder, and Keening – were instrumental in Kagrenac’s plan to harness the Heart of Lorkhan’s power. Wraithguard protected the wielder, Sunder modulated the Heart’s energy, and Keening focused and extracted that power. The Dwemer aimed to utilize this divine energy to construct a new god, the Numidium, a colossal brass golem, which would serve their race exclusively.
Delving into Creational Gradients and Anti-Creation
To comprehend the Dwemer’s ultimate goal, it’s crucial to understand their philosophical and metaphysical beliefs. Baladas Demnevanni, a learned Dunmer scholar with extensive knowledge of Dwemer culture, provides valuable insights into their worldview. Demnevanni explained that the Dwemer held a unique perspective on their place in the cosmos, disdaining the idea of being far removed from the divine.
It was unfashionable among the Dwemer to view their spirits as synthetic constructs three, four, or forty creational gradients below the divine. During the Dawn Era they researched the death of the Earth Bones, what we call now the laws of nature, dissecting the process of the sacred willing itself into the profane. I believe their mechanists and tonal architects discovered systematic regression techniques to perform the reverse — that is, to create the sacred from the deaths of the profane.
As the Dwemer left no corpses or traces of conflict behind, I believe that generations of ritualistic ‘anti-creations’ resulted in their immediate, but foreseen removal from the Mundus. They retreated behind math, behind color, behind the active principle itself. That the Dwemer vanished during a conflict with Nerevar and the Tribunal is merely coincidence.
— Baladas Demnevanni
Demnevanni introduces the concept of “creational gradients,” suggesting a hierarchical structure of existence, with the divine at the apex and mortals further removed. The Dwemer, he argues, sought to reverse this gradient through “anti-creation,” a process of transforming the profane back into the sacred. He also alludes to the “Earth Bones,” which are understood to be the fundamental laws of nature, shaped by the Aedra, the creator deities. The Dwemer believed they could manipulate these Earth Bones, as evidenced by the timeless quality of their ruins and artifacts.
Alt Text: Panoramic view of the exterior ruins of Nchuand-Zel in Skyrim, showcasing the impressive scale and architectural style of Dwemer settlements.
The Cosmic Wheel and Lorkhan’s Subcreation
To further contextualize the Dwemer’s ambition, we must consider the broader cosmology of the Elder Scrolls universe. Texts like Vehk’s Teachings and The Monomyth provide insights into the creation of the Aurbis (the universe) and Mundus (the mortal realm). These sources describe a primordial state of being, the interplay of Anu and Padomay (Order and Chaos), and the emergence of the Aedra and Daedra.
Vehk’s Teachings uses the metaphor of a Wheel to describe the cosmos:
What is the rim of the Wheel?As the process of subcreation continued, both Anu and Padhome awakened. For to see your antithesis is to finally awaken. Each gave birth to their souls, Auriel and Sithis, and these souls regarded the Aurbis each in their own part, and from this came the etada, the original patterns. These etada eventually congealed.
Anu’s firstborn, for he mostly desired order, was time, anon Akatosh. Padhome’s firstborn went wandering from the start, changing as he went, and wanted no name but was branded with Lorkhan. As time allowed more and more patterns to individualize, Lorkhan watched the Aurbis shape itself and grew equally delighted and tired with each new shaping. As the gods and demons of the Aurbis erupted, the get of Padhome tried to leave it all behind for he wanted all of it and none of it all at once. It was then that he came to the border of the Aurbis.
He saw the Tower, for a circle turned sideways is an “I”. This was the first word of Lorkhan and he would never, ever forget it.
— Vehk’s Teachings
This excerpt and other lore sources explain that Lorkhan played a pivotal role in the “subcreation” of Mundus, convincing other Aedra to participate in its making. This act of creation came at a cost, as the Aedra sacrificed portions of their divine essence to form the physical laws of Mundus, becoming the Earth Bones. Lorkhan himself was also diminished, his heart becoming the Heart of Lorkhan. The Dwemer, understanding this cosmic order, sought to undo this subcreation, to reverse the process that separated them from the divine.
The Brass God, Numidium, and the Collective Apotheosis
The Dwemer’s ultimate plan revolved around the Numidium, the colossal Brass God. The “Loveletter from the Fifth Era” and “Skeleton Man’s Interview” provide crucial details about the Numidium’s purpose and its connection to the Dwemer disappearance. The Loveletter states:
You in the Fourth Era have already witnessed many of the attempts at reaching the final subgradient of all AE, that state that exists beyond mortal death. The Numidium. The Endeavor. The Prolix Tower. CHIM. The Enantiomorph. The Scarab that Transforms into the New Man… Those who do not fail become the New Men: an individual beyond all AE, unerased and all-being. Jumping beyond the last bridge of all existence is the Last Existence, The Eternal I.
— Loveletter from the Fifth Era
This text positions the Numidium as an attempt to reach the “Eternal I,” a state beyond mortal death and subgradients. It connects the Numidium to the concept of CHIM, a state of realizing the dreamlike nature of reality and achieving a form of godhood. Skeleton Man’s interview with Xal, a Maruhkati Select, further clarifies the Numidium’s intended function:
Xal, a Human Maruhkati, Port Telvanis:Ah. I will tell you the truth, because you will believe none of it. The Brass God is Anumidum, the Prime Gestalt. He is also called the divine skin. He was meant to be used many times by our kind to transcend the Gray Maybe.
The first to see him was the Shop Foremer, Kagrenac of Vvardenfell, the wisest of the tonal architects [Mechanists – MN] Do not think as others do that Kagrenac created the Anumidum for petty motivations, such as a refutation of the gods. Kagrenac was devoted to his people, and the Dwarves, despite what you may have read, were a pious lot-he would not have sacrificed so many of their golden souls to create Anumidum’s metal body if it were all in the name of grand theater. Kagrenac had even built the tools needed to construct a Mantella, the Crux of Transcendence. But, by then, and for a long time coming, the Doom of the Dwarves marched upon the Mountain and they were removed from this world.
— Skeleton Man’s Interview
Xal reveals that the Numidium, or Anumidum, was intended as a “divine skin” or “Prime Gestalt.” The Dwemer planned to use it to collectively transcend Mundus. Crucially, Xal states that Kagrenac sacrificed “golden souls” to create the Numidium’s metal body. This is the key to the Dwemer disappearance.
The theory posits that when Kagrenac used Kagrenac’s Tools on the Heart of Lorkhan at the Battle of Red Mountain, he didn’t just activate the Numidium; he linked the entire Dwemer race to it. The Dwemer souls, in accordance with their plan, were channeled into the Brass God, becoming its animating force. In that instant, the Dwemer did not die, but rather, they ceased to exist as individual entities within Mundus. They were absorbed, en masse, into the Numidium in a collective attempt at apotheosis and “anti-creation.” Their disappearance was not accidental; it was the intended outcome of Kagrenac’s grand experiment. Dwemer metal, with its unique properties defying time and decay, was chosen to ensure the immortality of their collective soul within the Numidium.
The Lingering Questions and Conclusion
While this theory provides a compelling explanation for the Dwemer disappearance, questions remain. Why did the Numidium not immediately ascend to godhood after the Dwemer merged with it? Perhaps the intervention of the Tribunal at the Battle of Red Mountain disrupted the process. It’s also possible that Kagrenac’s plan was flawed in some way, or that the path to “Eternal I” is not a collective endeavor but an individual one. The existence of Yagrum Bagarn, the sole surviving Dwemer (afflicted with Corprus disease), also raises questions about the completeness of the Dwemer sacrifice.
Alt Text: Image of Yagrum Bagarn from Morrowind, showcasing his unique physical appearance altered by Corprus disease and his mechanical prosthetic leg.
Despite these lingering uncertainties, the theory of collective apotheosis through the Numidium remains the most comprehensive and lore-consistent explanation for the vanishing of the Dwemer. It paints a picture of a race driven by extraordinary ambition, scientific prowess, and a profound desire to transcend the limitations of mortal existence, even if it meant sacrificing their individual selves in the process. The mystery of “skyrim do we learn why the dwemer disappear” is, therefore, largely answered within the rich and complex lore of the Elder Scrolls, revealing a tale of audacious ambition and unforeseen consequences.
Signed and sealed,
Luagar Anulam, Herald of the Triune Way
References:
- Kagrenac’s Tools. https://www.imperial-library.info/content/kagrenacs-tools
- The Battle of Red Mountain. https://www.imperial-library.info/content/battle-red-mountain
- Vehk’s Teachings. https://www.imperial-library.info/content/vehks-teaching
- Loveletter from the Fifth Era, The True Purpose of Tamriel. https://www.imperial-library.info/content/loveletter-fifth-era-true-purpose-tamriel
- Interviews with a Skeleton Man. https://www.imperial-library.info/content/interviews-skeleton-man
