Skyrim: The Greybeards Are Masters of the Thu'um

gamerant.com:

In The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim,the Greybeards are one of the driving forces that push the player to defeat Alduin. Their group is an ancient and sacred one, comprised of members that have devoted their lives to mastering the Thu’um, or “the Voice.” Given this, they prove invaluable to the Dragonborn’s quest of mastering the Voice.

To meet the Greybeards in Skyrim, the player must undertake the main quest until they trigger “The Way of the Voice.” This prompts them to journey up the 7,000 Steps to High Hrothgar at the Throat of the World.

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The Greybeards were founded in the First Era by a Nord named Jurgen Windcaller, a wise and peaceful man who was also known as Jurgen the Calm. Before this, Jurgen was a warrior who had mastered the power of the Voice, a gift from Kyne and Paarthurnax to the ancient Nords. As a warrior and leader, he led Nord troops to the Battle of Red Mountain. Unfortunately, in the conflict between the Chimer (ancestors of the Dunmer) and Dwemer (also known as the dwarves), Jurgen’s army was wiped out.

This led to what modern Greybeards refer to as the “Seven Year Meditation,” wherein Jurgen pondered how he and his troops could have lost even with the power of the Voice. Eventually, he concluded that the Nords had been misusing the Voice, and that their losses were a punishment from the gods. Thus, Jurgen turned his back on the violent ways of the Voice and created a pacifist creed known as the Way of the Voice.

However, many Nords disagreed with this new creed, believing in the older, more militant methods of the Voice. It is said that 17 other masters of the Voice sought out Jurgen and confronted him in battle. Jurgen did not attack them and merely