Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-26213507-20150715194939/@comment-26693897-20150910211158

Bronkiin wrote: Look up Mer on the Wiki. Second paragraph. Not hard to find...

There are many, many references to it throughout all of TES lore. Its why the Snow Elves burnt Saarthal, for example. The Snow Elves attacked the Nords in Saarthal to covet the Eye of Magnus for themselves, not to reduce Nord population.