As we all are aware, the Thu'um an ancient magic of the Nords that was, in early days, mostly exclusive to their culture. Many of the races seem to have, be affected by, practice, or once practiced a form of magic or training that was unique to their culture or a sect within their society aside from the traditional abilities unique to each race.
Many of these magics have been abandoned, lost, or have not been elaborated upon in enough detail to fully explain. With Skyrim and the advent of the shouts being opened to the player, Bethesda has opened a way to continue to expand their lore on these ancient magics. By utilizing them within their games as an active role, they could become a major element of focus for future titles within the Elder Scrolls series.
Some of the younger (Orcs and Bretons) or less explored races have had little unique magic explained, or only briefly hinted at. This would also be a good time to expand on the history of the races when they became divided after the Merethic Era.

1) For the Nords there is the Thu'um or "the Voice". An ancient blessing from Kyne that was further developed through the teachings of dragons. It allows one to focus a portion of their own essence to form magic, instead of utilizing magicka.

2) For the Redguards, there was the practice of "Sword Singing". The Swordsingers were a group of Redguard warriors with the ability to form a weapon using their own soul. This weapon was known as their Shehai. The strongest of the swordsingers were called the Ansei, who's Shehai were said to be "unstoppable weapons of great might". The swordsingers were forced to abandon their homeland and sailed to Tamriel, and by the second era, almost all of their secrets had been lost.

3) For the Khajiit, they are heavily affected by the moon. While this is not a magic within their control, it is a form of magic. It also is the cause of the diversity of the Khajiit. The varient of Silence known as Muffle (As denoted in book http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Mixed_Unit_Tactics) was a magic completely unique to the Khajiit strains known as the Dagi and Dagi-raht. Until recently, a magic to silence one's own movements had not been seen.

4) The Bosmer practiced a particularly unique, as well as deadly form of magic known as the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Wild_Hunt. The Wild Hunt is a magic trait inherit to all Bosmer. It allows them to shapeshift their form into a horde of supernatural beasts. Few mention the process though, as the hunt is not only a source of shame for the Bosmer, but also the source of many, if not all, of the supernatural creatures that plague Tamriel. The Bosmer find themselves unable to revert the change after participating in the hunt, and are trapped as monsters.

5) The Altmer, while also being the most magically talented race on Tamriel, were also the first members of the Psijic Order. Though not strictly a group of Altmer it was originally a sect of Altmer who did not follow the same religious beliefs.
The Psijic order practices a religion and magic form known as Mysticism. Though it shares a name with the now missing school of magic, Mysticism is more accurately called "The Old Way" by the Psijic. Other than the religious beliefs, The Old Way is characterized by unknown and undefined results and forms of magic. With no expectable results from this magic, it is completely unique in comparison to the other schools.
Beyond this practice, the Psijic were known for being somewhat secretive, and amongst the most powerful magic users in existence.

6) The Argonians practice a very religious form of magic in their Hist Worship. Little is thoroughly explained with the Argonians, but their race is born from, and returns to the Hist, who are sentient trees and amongst the oldest species of Tamriel. The magic in this worship, while not explored in depth, plays a large role in the lives of Argonians living in Black Marsh, where the connection with the Hist is the strongest.

So, now that I've given some examples of what I know, please expand on anything that I may have missed, especially if it pertains to the races I did not mention above.

If Bethesda decides to use Skyrim as a blueprint, what would be a particularly interesting magic to be revived, rediscovered, or explored upon as a gimmick for future games?




I personally would like to see a rediscovery of "Sword Singing". Though it is refered to as Swordsinging, it is never once stated that the only weapon they could manifest was the sword. Instead I would like to see it as an ability that expands with usage.

This is nice, very informative. I'd like to throw in the Hist "magic" for the Argonians. If you've ever read The Infernal City you can see how prominent it is in the argonians' lives.

Aah thanks. I had originally typed something up on the Argonians and the Hist, but decided to delete it due to a lack of information on what it exactly does. Though I guess that isn't really a particularly important detail, as this is the more obscure magics of the Elder Scrolls.

According to the book, it seems that the Hist were able to remotely mind-control the Argonians into doing their bidding. That seems like a bit of that aforementioned "Mysticism" if anything.

Edit: Maybe not game material though, you're right.

I'd love this!


Though in my mind, It'd be race only. Unless your character wants to study the culture of being that race.