Barenziah is an interesting figure in The Elder Scrolls world, as her history is steeped in contradictions and scandal. She appears or is at least mentioned across various different titles.
In The Elder Scrolls games, players can find two different books that tell her story — “Biography of Barenziah” and “The Real Barenziah.” While the books generally follow the same timeline, the latter delves more into Barenziah’s personal life, painting a very different picture of the queen.
Two Different Accounts of the Queen in the Elder Scrolls
The “Biography of Barenziah” is a three-volume book series that was written by Stern Gamboge, an Imperial Scribe. This is widely seen as the official version of Queen Barenziah’s life, given that it was produced by the Imperials.
On the other hand, “The Real Barenziah” is a five-volume series that contains a more scandalous account of the queen’s life. It was written by a man named Plitinius Mero, an Imperial savant and old friend of Barenziah. Though Imperial forces ordered his death upon the release of the book series, Barenziah prevented this and gave him a job as her scribe and advisor. It’s also worth mentioning that copies of this book in later games are heavily censored. The uncensored version can only be found in Daggerfall.
The Official Story in “Biography of Barenziah”
This series begins with Barenziah’s early life. As a child, she lived comfortably in the kingdom of Mournhold, the noble daughter of its rulers. However, by age five, Tiber Septim — the first Emperor of Tamriel — demanded that her parents yield to the Imperials. They did not at first, leading to bloodshed and the eventual fall of Mournhold. This pushed Barenziah’s parents to finally sign an Armistice. Though the damage to their lands had already been dealt.
Luckily, Barenziah was rescued from the carnage. Seeing her, an Imperial General and fellow Dark Elf named Symmachus suggested that the Imperial forces safeguard Barenziah as “the child may someday be valuable.” Thus, she was put under the care of Count Sven Advensen, who ruled over the town of Darkmoor in Skyrim. There, Barenziah was raised to embody “imperial virtues,” growing up to be a beautiful and intelligent woman.
However, when Barenziah turned 16, a “wicked orphan stable-boy” named Straw fooled the princess, telling her that her family intended to sell her off as a concubine. This wasn’t true and Straw merely wanted Barenziah to himself — to marry and settle down with her. Nonetheless, the lie spurred Barenziah to escape with Straw to the faraway city of Riften. Once there, Straw fell in with a Khajiit thief named Therris, who planned to raid an Imperial official’s house. He intended to gather intel on the Imperial forces then sell that information to those who sought to topple down the Empire.
Barenziah caught wind of this plan and couldn’t stand for it as she was loyal to the Empire. So, she went to the Imperial official’s home and told him of her friend’s plans. The official was none other than Symmachus, who thanked the young princess and informed her that she was not to be sold off, but instead reinstated as the Queen of Mournhold when she turned 18. Until then, she was to reside in the Imperial City with the Septim family, where she would learn the complexities of governance and politics.
By the time Barenziah was crowned the sovereign ruler of Mournhold, Symmachus was at her side as her husband. They had two children — Helseth and Morgiah — and lived happy lives until the Empire suddenly began to deteriorate. Barenziah ventured out to meet Emperor Uriel Septim VII and find out what was happening, but to her surprise, the Emperor was an impostor. It was a bard known as the Nightingale, who had stolen the Staff of Chaos years ago. Around this time, an insurrection had broken out in Mournhold, killing Symmachus. Barenziah was devastated.
Luckily, Barenziah was still able to stop the Nightingale, later revealed to be Jagar Tharn, an Imperial battlemage. She managed to do so with help from King Eadwyre of High Rock and an unnamed Champion (the main protagonist of Arena). Right after the Nightingale’s defeat, Barenziah married King Eadwyre and settled with him in High Rock, where she finally lived a quiet, peaceful life.
The Salacious Details of 'The Real Barenziah'
The story begins not with Barenziah, but with a young Symmachus. He was but a young man when Barenziah was born and wished to be there at her Rite of Naming. However, his mother was ill, so he needed to find a healer to help her. Try as he might, he could find no one willing to help, even as he ran straight in front of the royal procession. His mother died that day, but the name “Barenziah” had been embedded in his mind ever since.
After this, the story continues like the official account. Barenziah survived the Tiber Wars and is put under the care of the Count of Darkmoor. However, this text holds that Barenziah was never comfortable with her new family. She was healthy physically but was unhappy, especially since the Countess Inga looked down on her because of her race.
When she later ran away with Straw, it isn’t because he fooled her, but because she suspected that a courier who visited once a month had ill intentions toward her. As the two traveled, Barenziah grew promiscuous, eventually accepting coin from the guards she lay with. Barenziah also had a penchant for thievery, which is why she joined the Thieves Guild when they arrived in Riften. She slept with Therris to get in, who later betrayed her by sending her to do a job in Symmachus’ own home.
Like in the biography, Symmachus took Barenziah to the Imperial City to stay with the Tiber family before she can officially become queen of Mournhold. In the Septim household, she and the Emperor had an affair. This led to an unwanted pregnancy and an abortion held against Barenziah’s wishes. Thus, she left the Imperial City for Mournhold earlier than planned. Despite everything, the Emperor and Barenziah were civil, even friendly.
When the Emperor finally passed away, Symmachus proposed to Barenziah, and she accepted. Symmachus finally achieved what he’d set out to do as a child. This led to a prosperous relationship — both in the personal and political sense. The only problem was that Barenziah could not seem to bear a child. Nonetheless, elves had plenty of time.
Much later, when Symmachus was away, Barenziah was charmed and fooled by the dastardly Nightingale, who then managed to steal away the Staff of Chaos from an ancestral shrine in the area. Symmachus, though angry, forgave Barenziah and covered up her wrongs. The account then continues as the biography did. One difference being that the Nightingale was reportedly in love with Barenziah, which she took advantage of to kill him. Finally, she fled with King Eadwyre, gave birth to the Nightingale’s son, and then married the king a year later. Thus ends the salacious tale of Queen Barenziah.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
