487 Words About: Secunda in Elder Scrolls V-Skyrim
Image provided by Moby Games.
While standing in a field, an aurora above in the sky, sounds of a dragon flying just outside of triggering distance, while a giant herds its wooly mammoth across a river, the first few notes drop.
And I disappear completely into this simulated fantasy world.
I have no real functional knowledge of music, or, at least, I don’t have the jargon memorized. While some of my peers went into band and choir in grade school learning the actual mechanics of musical composition, I went the art path because I enjoyed drawing and also because my fourth grade recorder teacher did nothing but scream at us and it scared me away from music. As such I don’t know the real meanings of words like octaves, nocturne, requiem, soprano, or concerto.
This is why writing about the composition Secunda from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is more than a tad daunting.
Skyrim’s soundtrack has been playing in and around me since the game was released in 2011. In fact apart from Silent Hill 2 there isn’t a videogame soundtrack that I play more, and Secunda is one of the reasons why. The track is mostly atmospheric, iconic for its opening sequence of piano keys playing, and will often trigger in the evenings when players are moving their avatar across meadows.
The structure of the melody begins mimicking the steps of the player as they walk or run. It’s a slow progression of notes that, poetically speaking, almost mimic the heartbeat steps of a dream as I open my eyes to a new reality. After these initial notes there is a second series of higher notes played that bring a new energy into the piece. These notes likewise mimic footsteps, but their tone and pace are quicker and are possessed with more spirit. They invite the player's desire for exploration and the desire to move forward into new realms. As the piece continues a voice will begin singing, its tone emerging from an echo and grows in higher pitch until a horn begins to play and steadily builds, leaving the player with a perception that they are now fully enveloped in this universe.
Every structural component of the composition, from a rhetorical perspective, is about bringing the player deeper into Skyrim.
Image provided by Moby Games
The title Secunda is actually the name of one of the two moons that orbits the planet Nirn where the entirety of the Elder Scrolls universe takes place. This moon can only be observed at night which is typically when players will encounter the track in the first place.
And this is, honestly, a brilliant design.
Secunda is a reminder why music and sound in videogames matters as much as it does. I’ve played an enormous amount of Skyrim since 2011, and while the game leaves me exhausted from its endless possibilities, the music still absorbs me while playing.
Four notes and I feel completely present in this simulated world.
Joshua “Jammer” Smith
8.11.2025
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