The Elder Scrolls universe is home to various forms of magic, all varying in form and usage. Schools of magic like illusion allows individuals to trick minds through sneaky spells, while destruction allows for a mage to launch the classic fireball from their fingertips. However, none are more intriguing than the most unique form of magic: sound magic.

Sound magic, also known as tonal magic by the community, is a special form of magic found throughout the franchises games and lore books. Various races of The Elder Scrolls have utilized forms of tonal magic unique to their people and culture. Throughout these showcases of immense power, they have proven that tonal magic is the most important magic of all.

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Sound Magic in the Elder Scrolls

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Tonal magic isn't magic that creates sound, but one utilizes sound in a way that alters reality. Its uses even trump the applications of alteration magic seen throughout the franchise, because unlike alteration, tonal magic can alter aspects like time and space. Various forms of tonal magic include Green Singing, Sword Singing, Tonal Architecture, and even Skyrim's iconic shouting powers. As their names entail, each utilize sound in some way. How these abilities work is largely unknown, but a prevailing theory can be suggested from some hints found throughout the games.

The prevailing theory for tonal magic's source of power is the idea that the universe's make-up is akin to a song. This idea has been echoed throughout the games, such as The Elder Scrolls' Lorkhan being known as the "Doom Drum" in the in-game lore book, "Varieties of Faith." Lorkhan's beating heart found in The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind can be seen as the metaphorical "drum" whose heart beats act as the "beat" that Nirn bases its own "song" off of. As the heart itself is recorded to have said, "This Heart is the heart of the world, for one was made to satisfy the other." For that reason, it is likely that tonal magic works by adding, removing, or altering part of this "song" through sound in order to manipulate reality itself.

However, one odd aspect of tonal magic is that it often seems unique to specific races. The Nords famously utilized the Thu'um, Redguards used Sword-Singing, and so on and so forth. However, it is unlikely that these abilities are limited to these races, as exemplified by the Dwemer's use of tonal architecture. This Dwemer art is special among tonal magics because it is the most scientific use of tonal magic found in the franchise, which makes sense for a god-defying race like the Dwemer. The Dwemer applied the powers of tonal architecture onto some of their creations, with the Numidium possibly having used tonal architecture itself as one of its main offensive abilities. Sotha Sil found a way to use tonal architectures himself, suggesting that tonal magic is manifestation of that race's culture rather than a limitation to that specific race.

For those reasons, only a few of the very strongest The Elder Scrolls spells can match the potency of tonal magic. While normal magic needs to be taught in categories in order to be easily taught and understood, tonal magics applications are all broad and powerful. The shouts in Skyrim alone showcased the immense powers tonal magic can have, such as being able to slow down time, change the weather, or even rain down meteors from the sky.

Hopefully with the next The Elder Scrolls release, players can attain even greater insight into how exactly this odd form of magic works. If The Elder Scrolls 6 game takes place in Hammerfell like some fans theorize, perhaps Sword-Singing could make an introduction into the mainline franchise.

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