NEWS

Skyrim Cover Decoded


After toiling away with the translation key, knowing only the symbols for a single word, I've managed to totally decode the verses from the back cover of February's Game Informer, featuring Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The language is one that's been developed entirely by Bethesda for use in the Elder Scrolls franchise, appearing for the first time in Skyrim.

The first of these two verses is sung at the end of the Skyrim reveal trailer from the VGAs in early December, which you can watch again below, courtesy of GameTrailers. The second is coming out for the first time, and reveals the name of the game's main villain. Which, by the way, took me forever because the name isn't on the translation key.

Anyway, the two verses of the (possibly longer) song are as follows:

Dragonborn, Dragonborn
By his honor is sworn
To keep eveil forever at bay
And the fiercest foes rout
When they hear triumph's shout
Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray

And the scrolls have fortold
Of black wings in the cold
That, when brothers wage war, come unfurled
Alduin, bane of kings
Ancient shadow unbound
With a hunger to swallow the world



I feel like our hero and protagonist is likely to be Dragonborn, though whether or not he/she knows this from the beginning or finds out later is anybody's guess. And, of course, Dragonborn could be somebody else entirely, or a sword, or a myth. Only the guys at Bethesda truly know. What we do know for sure is that Alduin is our villain's name. More details, along with screens, will come when the February issue of Game Informer hits shelves and mailboxes across the country soon.

Header image courtesy of Game Informer.