Skyrim Days of the Week: Why Tamriel's Calendar is More Than Just Flavor Text

You're standing in the middle of Whiterun. The sun is setting behind the Throat of the World. You check your menu to see how long that Potion of Enhanced Stamina is going to last, and you notice the date: Sundas, the 17th of Last Seed. If you’re like most players, you probably just shrug and keep running toward Breezehome. It’s easy to ignore. Most games just use a standard Monday-to-Sunday cycle because, honestly, who wants to learn a whole new calendar just to play a fantasy RPG? But Bethesda didn't do that. They leaned into the deep lore of The Elder Scrolls, and the skyrim days of the week actually tell a massive story about the gods, the cosmos, and how the people of Tamriel perceive time itself.

It’s weirdly immersive once you get the hang of it.

The Seven Days of the Tamrielic Week

Let's get the basics out of the way. There are seven days in a week in Skyrim. Sound familiar? It should. The structure mirrors our real-world Gregorian calendar perfectly, which is a clever bit of game design. It keeps the player grounded while the names provide that "otherworldly" flavor.

Sundas is the first day. It’s your Sunday. It’s a day typically associated with rest or worship in the lore, though in the actual gameplay of Skyrim, most NPCs keep to their schedules regardless of the holy day. Then comes Morndas, which is obviously Monday. If you feel a bit of a drag starting your work week, imagine being a miner in Kolskeggr Mine dealing with Forsworn attacks on a Morndas.

Tirdas and Turdas are the ones that usually trip people up. Tirdas is Tuesday. Turdas is Thursday. They sound almost identical if you’re skimming the wait menu too fast. In between them is Middas, the middle of the week—Wednesday. Then we hit Fredas, the Friday equivalent, which leads into Loredas, the Saturday of Tamriel.

Why the names matter

These aren't just random sounds mashed together. If you look at the etymology provided in the in-game book The Heavens, or the foundational lore established in Daggerfall and Morrowind, these names are corruptions of older Aldmeris terms. They reflect the celestial bodies. While we name our days after Norse or Roman gods (Thor's Day, Saturn's Day), the skyrim days of the week are tied to the mythic architecture of the Aurbis.

Sundas is the day of the Sun (Magnus). Loredas is tied to the "Lore," or the knowledge of the stars. It’s subtle world-building. It's the kind of thing you don't need to know to slay a dragon, but once you do know it, the world feels about ten times deeper.

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The Merchant Trap: Does the Day Actually Change Gameplay?

Here is the thing about Skyrim: the AI schedules are actually tied to these days. This isn't just cosmetic.

If you are trying to find a specific NPC, their "sandbox" routine changes based on whether it's a Fredas or a Sundas. Take the market stalls in Riften or Solitude. On Sundas, you’ll often find NPCs gathered near the local temple. In Solitude, the Temple of the Divines gets a lot more foot traffic. If you’re playing a thief build and you’re trying to rob a house, knowing the skyrim days of the week is actually a tactical advantage. You don't want to break into a manor when the whole family is home for a Sundas meal.

Shop hours are generally consistent—8:00 AM to 8:00 PM—but the "flavor" NPCs, the ones who don't sell you things but fill out the world, have complex schedules. Some characters only go to the tavern on Fredas and Loredas nights.

Religious Observances and Holidays

The calendar gets even crazier when you factor in the months. There are 12 months, each with 30 or 31 days.

1. Morning Star (January)
2. Sun's Dawn (February)
3. First Seed (March)
4. Rain's Hand (April)
5. Second Seed (May)
6. Midyear (June)
7. Sun's Height (July)
8. Last Seed (August)
9. Hearthfire (September)
10. Frostfall (October)
11. Sun's Dusk (November)
12. Evening Star (December)

Certain holidays fall on specific days. For example, the Burning of King Olaf in Solitude is a scripted event, but in the wider lore of the series, festivals like the Warriors Festival (15th of Last Seed) or Tales and Tallows (3rd of Hearthfire) represent moments where the barrier between the mortal plane (Nirn) and the afterlife (Aetherius) is supposedly thinner.

In Skyrim, Bethesda simplified this. You won't see a massive parade for every minor holiday listed in the lore books. However, the background simulation still tracks these dates. If you’re using mods like Holiday, these dates trigger actual in-game decorations and NPC behaviors, turning a boring Fredas into a town-wide party.

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The Mystery of the 28th of Rain's Hand

There’s an old piece of lore that many veteran players discuss regarding the "Jester's Day" or specific dates where things just feel... off. While Skyrim doesn't have a "luck" stat like Oblivion did, the internal clock is always running.

The game starts on the 17th of Last Seed, 4E 201.
It’s a Turdas.

Why does that matter? Because the opening sequence—the ride to Helgen, the dragon attack, the escape—all happens on a Thursday. By the time you reach Riverwood and talk to Alvor or Gerdur, it’s likely Fredas morning. You’ve spent your first Friday in Skyrim running for your life from a World-Eater.

How to use the Calendar for Roleplay

If you want to actually get the most out of the skyrim days of the week, you have to stop playing it like a checklist and start playing it like a life sim.

• Plan your adventures: Use the "Wait" function not just to skip to daylight, but to ensure you arrive in cities on Loredas when the inns are full and the rumors (and potential quests) are flying.
• Track your character’s age: Every time Morning Star rolls around, your Dragonborn has survived another year. Given how many giants we all fight, that’s an achievement.
• Temple visits: If you’re playing a paladin or a priest-type character, make it a point to visit the Temple of Kynareth or Mara every Sundas. It changes the pace of the game from a frantic loot-grind to something more meditative.

There’s a specific nuance to the way time passes in Bethesda games. The time scale is usually set to 20 by default. This means for every minute of real-time, 20 minutes pass in-game. A full 24-hour cycle takes 72 real-world minutes. This means you’ll cycle through the skyrim days of the week fairly quickly if you're doing a long session.

Technical Quirks and the Calendar

Let's talk about the engine for a second. The Creation Engine tracks time using a global variable. Sometimes, if you stay in one cell (like a player home) for too long, or if you use the "wait" command for hundreds of hours to reset merchant gold, you can actually desync certain NPC schedules.

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Ever had a shopkeeper who just wouldn't open their door even though it was 10:00 AM on a Tirdas? That’s often a result of the AI "packages" getting stuck in a previous day’s logic. Usually, a quick save and reload—or leaving the cell and coming back—fixes the logic. The game essentially has to "check" the calendar to tell the NPC where they are supposed to be standing.

Common Misconceptions

People often think that certain days provide buffs. "Does Sundas give me more magicka?" No. Not in the vanilla game. There are no "day-of-the-week" bonuses. However, the Moon Phase does matter if you are a Werewolf or a Vampire.

Masser and Secunda—the two moons—have their own cycles that are independent of the seven-day week. If you’re tracking your transformation or your power levels, you need to look at the sky, not just the calendar menu. The moons follow a 24-day and 32-day cycle respectively.

Also, don't confuse the names with the "Eras." We are in the 4th Era (4E). The days of the week have remained constant throughout the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Eras. Whether you were playing Morrowind (3E 427) or Skyrim (4E 201), a Morndas was still a Morndas. The consistency of the skyrim days of the week is one of the few things that didn't break during the Oblivion Crisis or the eruption of Red Mountain.

Actionable Steps for Your Next Playthrough

Ready to actually pay attention to the clock? Here is how to make the calendar work for you:

1. Check the Date Immediately: Open your menu and look at the "General Stats" or the "Wait" menu. Figure out what day it is right now.
2. Sync with the Inns: Go to the Bannered Mare in Whiterun on a Fredas night. Observe the NPCs. Note how the atmosphere feels different when the "work week" NPCs are relaxing.
3. Download a Calendar Mod: If you’re on PC or Xbox, look for mods like "A Matter of Time." It adds a visible clock and calendar to your HUD. It makes the skyrim days of the week a constant part of your UI rather than a hidden stat.
4. Roleplay the Holidays: Look up the Imperial Calendar on the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP). When a holiday like "North Wind's Prayer" (15th of Evening Star) comes up, give your character a break. Buy a high-end bottle of Alto Wine, sit by a fire, and don't clear any dungeons for 24 hours.

Understanding the calendar isn't about memorizing weird words for the sake of it. It’s about realizing that Skyrim is a world that existed before you started the game and will keep ticking after you log off. The sun rises on Sundas whether there’s a Dragonborn to see it or not.

Next time you see "Loredas" in your menu, remember: it's time to sell your loot, hit the tavern, and maybe, just maybe, stay out of the freezing rain for a day.