(Sources include: The Annotated Anuad, Before the Ages of Man)
These deities were the first of all. They are considered brothers that each make up half of a single whole. They came forth through the Void and soon after Time began. According the Anuad, as they wandered the Void "the interplay of Light and Darkness created Nir". Both Anu and Padomay were amazed and delighted with her appearance, but she chose Anu. Dismayed, Padomay retreated. Eventually Nir grew pregnant and before she birthed Padomay came to her one last time to profess his love but, again, she chose Anu. This caused Padomay to become enraged and beat Nir until Anu returned and the brothers fought. In the end, Padomay was cast outside of time and Nir gave birth to Creation. During her efforts to conceive Nir died of her injuries and Anu grieved by sleeping in the sun.
Eventually life grew and flourished on the twelve worlds of creation and after a long time Padomay returned to Time and saw Creation, as it was the child of Nir. This angered Padomay and with his sword he shattered the twelve worlds in their alignment, waking Anu. Another great battle between brothers ensued ending with Anu defeating Padomay yet again and, believing him dead, he cast aside Padomays body. When Anu saw the damage his brother inflicted upon the worlds of Creation he did what he could to save it by forming the remnants into one world, Nirn.
In truth Padomay was not dead and he lashed out at his brother one last time, striking him in the chest with one great blow. Anu struggled with Padomay and both were pulled outside of Time forever. The blood of Padomay became the Daedra and the blood of Anu became the stars and when the blood of both mingled formed the Aedra. In explaining the the chief differences between Aedra and Daedra it is commonly believed that the blood of the Aedra gives them the capacity for both good and evil and causes their inherent concern for the affairs of the earth and it's inhabitants, whereas the Daedra have no such connections and therefore do not care or concern themselves with the affairs of mortals or their world.
Friday, March 23, 2012
The Dawn Era - The Monomyth
The first era and beginning of existence is called the Dawn Era.
This is a time before time and any explanation of time is simply a fabricated measure taken to set order to events for mortals to comprehend. The events of this era are only known by mortals through myth and through the form of religious teachings and details vary from culture to culture. The one thing that all agree upon is that the era represents the genesis of time, life and recorded history.
In the beginning all there was, was the Void. The Void(also known as Sithis) is a vast state of nothingness and constant mutation. Anu and Padomay(Is and Is Not) were part of the Void and the first things to come into existence from it. In certain texts, they were brothers and came with the Void into existence. Anu and Padomay created the Aurbis, which is the Gray Center between Is and Is Not. It contains the realms of Aetherius and Oblivion, as well as other, less structured, planes.
* The Aldmer have varied versions of a few of the above details. They believe the Void itself is Anu and refer to the Aurbis as Anuiel, the Soul of Anu.
The Aurbis, at this time, was unstable and turbulent. It is said that this was because Aurbis(as Anu) was using the Void to ponder himself in every instance. Despite this, from the Aurbis and the Void sprang the et'Ada, or "the Original Spirits". The et'Ada did not align to anything as of yet and some gravitated to either the light or dark and then returned back from whence they came without their notice, dissolving when they hit perfect gray again. The first et'Ada were unlearned in many areas as existence itself was a new creation and there wasn't much time for practice beforehand. Due to this fact, most things ended quickly, were not good or were given up on quickly - it was a violent place.
Akatosh was one the first et'Ada to be given superior knowledge by Aurbis, and this knownledge was Time, and thus Time was created. Soon thereafter, the et'Ada filled the Aurbis until all was full and separated into two groups: those that aligned with Anu, residing in Aetherius and those that aligned with Padomay, who dwelt in Oblivion.
Lorkhan was one who aligned to Padomay, but instead of residing in Oblivion chose to remain in the state of Aurbis. It was he who brought the concept of a world, of sacrifice and responsibility with no guaranteed success(on the part of the et'Ada). Again, the et'Ada were split into two factions: One was eager to begin this new world and started immediately in it's construction. Magnus(also known simply as Magic) was the chief architect on the world's creation. Kynareth, the et'Ada of Air, provided space for this world within the Void. This new faction of et'Ada would be known as the Aedra. The other faction was those who did not want to participate on the project, and they were to be known as the Daedra.
Then Mundus(or the Mortal Realm, Nirn) was created. The process of its creation was painful and left most Aedra crippled and drained, no longer strong and powerful as they had once been. This caused many Aedra to disappear completely forever. It was then that the remaining Aedra realized they had been tricked into this endeavor, but by then the damage had been done. Magnus was the first to abandon the project and many left with him to return to Artherius. The rest of the remaining Aedra conviened at the Adamantine Tower to hold council. At this meeting they did little but to finalize the separation of the last faithful Aedra. After that the last of the retreating Aedra left and the last determined ones decided to stay in order to preserve what they had built. This group transformed themselves into the Ehlnofey(or Earthbones) and susequentially the laws of nature were established. These last eight Aedra(Akatosh, Arkay, Dibella, Mara, Kynareth, Julianos, Stendarr and Zenithar) remained and would go on to become the realm's gods.
It was written that as punishment for Lorkhan's disception of the Aedra, those who met at the Adamantine Tower determined that Lorkhan's heart would be ripped from his chest and the cast from the tower. It was their original intention to destroy it but it spoke and said, "This Heart is the heart of the world, for one was made to satisfy the other." And so it was tied to an arrow and loosed, where it landed was the eastern part of Tamriel and from it's landing a massive volcano formed. This volcano is now known as Vvardenfell.
Before these final events that comprise the story of Nirn's creation took place, the world was unstable and dangerous. When Magnus and the retreating Aedra left to return to Aetheius, a hole was ripped in the sky and thus magic was allowed to flow into this new world. After the final Eight settled into their godhood and the Ehlnofey became mortals into order live and populate these new lands, Mundus/Nirn stablized and became habitable. This marks the end of what would be known as the Dawn Era and the beginning of the Merethic Era.
This is a time before time and any explanation of time is simply a fabricated measure taken to set order to events for mortals to comprehend. The events of this era are only known by mortals through myth and through the form of religious teachings and details vary from culture to culture. The one thing that all agree upon is that the era represents the genesis of time, life and recorded history.
In the beginning all there was, was the Void. The Void(also known as Sithis) is a vast state of nothingness and constant mutation. Anu and Padomay(Is and Is Not) were part of the Void and the first things to come into existence from it. In certain texts, they were brothers and came with the Void into existence. Anu and Padomay created the Aurbis, which is the Gray Center between Is and Is Not. It contains the realms of Aetherius and Oblivion, as well as other, less structured, planes.
* The Aldmer have varied versions of a few of the above details. They believe the Void itself is Anu and refer to the Aurbis as Anuiel, the Soul of Anu.
The Aurbis, at this time, was unstable and turbulent. It is said that this was because Aurbis(as Anu) was using the Void to ponder himself in every instance. Despite this, from the Aurbis and the Void sprang the et'Ada, or "the Original Spirits". The et'Ada did not align to anything as of yet and some gravitated to either the light or dark and then returned back from whence they came without their notice, dissolving when they hit perfect gray again. The first et'Ada were unlearned in many areas as existence itself was a new creation and there wasn't much time for practice beforehand. Due to this fact, most things ended quickly, were not good or were given up on quickly - it was a violent place.
Akatosh was one the first et'Ada to be given superior knowledge by Aurbis, and this knownledge was Time, and thus Time was created. Soon thereafter, the et'Ada filled the Aurbis until all was full and separated into two groups: those that aligned with Anu, residing in Aetherius and those that aligned with Padomay, who dwelt in Oblivion.
Lorkhan was one who aligned to Padomay, but instead of residing in Oblivion chose to remain in the state of Aurbis. It was he who brought the concept of a world, of sacrifice and responsibility with no guaranteed success(on the part of the et'Ada). Again, the et'Ada were split into two factions: One was eager to begin this new world and started immediately in it's construction. Magnus(also known simply as Magic) was the chief architect on the world's creation. Kynareth, the et'Ada of Air, provided space for this world within the Void. This new faction of et'Ada would be known as the Aedra. The other faction was those who did not want to participate on the project, and they were to be known as the Daedra.
Then Mundus(or the Mortal Realm, Nirn) was created. The process of its creation was painful and left most Aedra crippled and drained, no longer strong and powerful as they had once been. This caused many Aedra to disappear completely forever. It was then that the remaining Aedra realized they had been tricked into this endeavor, but by then the damage had been done. Magnus was the first to abandon the project and many left with him to return to Artherius. The rest of the remaining Aedra conviened at the Adamantine Tower to hold council. At this meeting they did little but to finalize the separation of the last faithful Aedra. After that the last of the retreating Aedra left and the last determined ones decided to stay in order to preserve what they had built. This group transformed themselves into the Ehlnofey(or Earthbones) and susequentially the laws of nature were established. These last eight Aedra(Akatosh, Arkay, Dibella, Mara, Kynareth, Julianos, Stendarr and Zenithar) remained and would go on to become the realm's gods.
It was written that as punishment for Lorkhan's disception of the Aedra, those who met at the Adamantine Tower determined that Lorkhan's heart would be ripped from his chest and the cast from the tower. It was their original intention to destroy it but it spoke and said, "This Heart is the heart of the world, for one was made to satisfy the other." And so it was tied to an arrow and loosed, where it landed was the eastern part of Tamriel and from it's landing a massive volcano formed. This volcano is now known as Vvardenfell.
Before these final events that comprise the story of Nirn's creation took place, the world was unstable and dangerous. When Magnus and the retreating Aedra left to return to Aetheius, a hole was ripped in the sky and thus magic was allowed to flow into this new world. After the final Eight settled into their godhood and the Ehlnofey became mortals into order live and populate these new lands, Mundus/Nirn stablized and became habitable. This marks the end of what would be known as the Dawn Era and the beginning of the Merethic Era.
Introduction to ESL
Welcome to the Elder Scrolls Lore blog!
Our mission here is to collect and present a complete and detailed outline of the entire histories of Elder Scrolls, which includes all of Tamriel's provinces and all the other countries of Nirn. We're not going to focus too much on the contents of the game itself(we have other blogs for that) so much as the history and background that surrounds and encompasses the world the game is set in. Video games have taken a quantum leap in detail and complexity but none so much as Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series and what sets them apart from their predecessors and peers is the rich, elaborate history and lore that their games are founded on. With sufficient background you have a sense of realism and immersion that makes everything you do in the game important. Which side would you choose: Stormcloak or Imperial? Your answer might well change if you knew a bit more about the history of the province and the two groups and you may understand why both of them feel their cause is just.
I'm getting ahead of myself here though. After long debating about how were going to go about categorizing the posts here we've decided that the obvious thing to do is go in chronological order, beginning with the earliest histories of Nirn and it's creation and the Daedra themselves. So please, feel free to sink in and immerse yourself in the vast pages of time that your favorite games are founded in. Feel free to comment with any ideas, opinions and(god forbid) corrections that are necessary.
Thanks for checking us out and stay tuned every week for more updates and posts! Also, if you want to check out our other blogs, we have link at the bottom.
Travis
Skyrim Roleplay Blog: www.skyrimroleplayguide.blogspot.com
Song of the Dovahkiin: www.songofthedovahkiin.blogspot.com
Our mission here is to collect and present a complete and detailed outline of the entire histories of Elder Scrolls, which includes all of Tamriel's provinces and all the other countries of Nirn. We're not going to focus too much on the contents of the game itself(we have other blogs for that) so much as the history and background that surrounds and encompasses the world the game is set in. Video games have taken a quantum leap in detail and complexity but none so much as Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series and what sets them apart from their predecessors and peers is the rich, elaborate history and lore that their games are founded on. With sufficient background you have a sense of realism and immersion that makes everything you do in the game important. Which side would you choose: Stormcloak or Imperial? Your answer might well change if you knew a bit more about the history of the province and the two groups and you may understand why both of them feel their cause is just.
I'm getting ahead of myself here though. After long debating about how were going to go about categorizing the posts here we've decided that the obvious thing to do is go in chronological order, beginning with the earliest histories of Nirn and it's creation and the Daedra themselves. So please, feel free to sink in and immerse yourself in the vast pages of time that your favorite games are founded in. Feel free to comment with any ideas, opinions and(god forbid) corrections that are necessary.
Thanks for checking us out and stay tuned every week for more updates and posts! Also, if you want to check out our other blogs, we have link at the bottom.
Travis
Skyrim Roleplay Blog: www.skyrimroleplayguide.blogspot.com
Song of the Dovahkiin: www.songofthedovahkiin.blogspot.com
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