If apparently "the snow elf culture rivaled that of the modern high elves" and "the snow elves were incredible mages and warriors" then why did the ancient nords beat them if they were so awesome?

Because a little girl stabbed the Snow Prince.

Because the nords were awesome too, only MORE awesome.


As for the above statement, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Fall_of_the_Snow_Prince.


The nords also had the backing of Shor who tends to create rather ridiculously powerful heroes for mankind.

Really? Also this can't be the only reason. The death of one person couldn't cause an entire civilization to fall. The prince had to have heirs. I don't see this being reason enough.

I'm not joking though. When the nords get their act together they are one of the more OP races in Tamriel. They had a much larger amount of land at one point than they do today, but Jurgen's way of the voice seriously crippled them. Even without the tongues though, they fought High Rock and Hammerfell at the same time and gained land from both. The nords are not a group you want pissed off at you.

Because Skyrim is a crap hole infested with dragons, and mer felt like giving it to the neds.

As far as I understood it the Nords of the time was much more warlike than the Falmer and they had the advantage of numbers since they reproduced faster. Not to mention that the Ancient Nords practised the Thu'um, which makes siege warfare much easier. A single Tongue can breach just about any gate. And unlike the modern day Nords they also practised non-Thu'um magic fairly regulary so the Falmer wouldn't have all that many advantages.
The Nords have proven to be a very hardy people when it comes to warfare, too say the least.

Pretty much this
You also have to remember that the nords have the world on their side, the race of man gets heroes to save them/whoop elvish ass whenever it feels threatened.

Remember, elves breed slowly. Once they lost a few battles, they probably had trouble replenishing their army. At that point, the Nords would have the Voice, finely crafted equipment and sheer numbers.

EDIT-Ninja'd.

This is not to be underestimated. The elven races are always at a serious disadvantage against humans becuase the round ears can simply out-breed them. Elves live for centuries, and elven women maybe have two kids in all that time, if they are lucky. Humans of course, breed like humans. It will still take the Altmer and Bosmer a hundred years or more to recover their losses from the Great War. While the Imperials and Redguards have not only raised an entire new generation of fighters, but are half-way through pumping out a second. All the human races need to do is start a war every twenty years, and even if they take much heavier losses than the elves, they will still win in the end. Crunch all you want, they'll make more.

That was just the incident that broke their spirit.

The Problem with the Breeding route is that Mers can breed with Men, and jump-start the ability. The Real Barenziah showed this twice, once with Tiber Septim, and once more with another human (and technically with a third, Jagar Tharn).

And TES Lore states that children are born the race of the mother.

Maybe an Altmer lady can't pop them out quite as fast as a Nord lady, but.....

You know, we've got a perfectly good http://www.gamesas.com/forum/16-elder-scrolls-lore/ for these kinds of question.

Same book series also states that elven women can expect 4 children if they are unusually fertile, normal being able to have 1 or 2. This doesn't, as far as I understood it, change even if they do have six wih humans. Humans on the other hand is much more fertile on average and can pump out bablies much faster.

I have to say I think nords are the most powerful race. Well if they took up using magic again. If they did that I see them as nearly unnstoppable. At some point though they would have to ally with another race. If they ever allied with the dunmer they would really be unstoppable then.

The snow elves likely suffered heavily casualties when they originally drove the Nords from Skyrim. The war began because they saw how fast the Nords were expanding and were afraid that they'd become dominate. When they say Ysgramor returned with his five hundred companions that probably isn't a literal interruptation of the numbers. The army was probably far larger with the companions representing the leadership and officers in the army. There is also nothing to indicate the Snow Elves were a united force, some may have simply sat by and watched their rivals burn arrogantly believing they could hold the line against the Nords. By the time they realized just how much of a threat this army had become it was to late.