Cyrodiil

 

Cyrodiil, also known as Cyrod and the Imperial Province, is the large, central region of Tamriel. It borders Skyrim to the north, Morrowind and Black Marsh to the east, Elsweyr and Valenwood to the south, and Hammerfell to the west. Cyrodiil is watered by the Niben River and its tributaries. Upon a group of islands in the middle of Lake Rumare stands the Imperial City, the capital of Cyrodiil and the largest city in the world.

Name

The province was originally called Cyrod ("heart" in Ayleidoon), with the suffix -iil ("of"/"from") indicating a denizen of this region, in the same vein as Khajiit ("of the desert") and Lilmothiit ("of Lilmoth"). This demonym, famously employed by Reman Cyrodiil, is still used today to refer to the inhabitants of Cyrodiil proper (as opposed to the broader term "Imperial"). At some point (probably in the late First Era with the shifting of speech in the messy post-Alessian interregnum), the term Cyrodiil replaced Cyrod as the common name of the province.

History

Varen's Wall, built by Varen Aquilarios during the Interregnum